Why Should Delaware Care?
Plans to demolish a shuttered elementary school and build affordable housing in Southbridge, one of Wilmington’s oldest and most historic neighborhoods, are underway. But whether the final sales prices of the homes will be affordable for residents of the working-class neighborhood is uncertain.
In 2024, Wilmington and state officials launched a long-term plan to turn Elbert-Palmer, a former-elementary school in the city’s Southbridge neighborhood, into affordable housing.
Two years later, city officials say they remain committed to the plan, but as they move forward with finding a contractor to build 30 townhomes, it remains to be seen what the final sale prices will be.
In an interview with Spotlight Delaware, Bud Freel, director of the Wilmington Land Bank, which is leading the project, estimated the cost to build each of the 30 houses at more than $300,000.
Freel said government dollars will allow the Land Bank – which is charged with redeveloping properties in the city – to sell the houses for less than the development cost. But the final listing price will depend on several factors, including the number of subsidies that officials are ultimately able to secure, and whether the city can reduce construction costs through its forthcoming building contract.
“As we sit here today, I cannot give you a number on what we’re going to be able to list these houses for,” Freel said.
There is also no set definition of “affordable” housing, he said, noting that multiple factors could be used for consideration, including the area’s income, the amount of down payment a buyer can put down, and the local housing market.
“There’s a number of things you look at, but there’s no set formula,” Freel said.
Asked about Freel’s comments, Caroline Klinger, a spokeswoman for Wilmington Mayor John Carney, said city officials cannot determine a price range yet because affordability will depend on buyers’ incomes.
“It would be premature to put out a number that would not apply to all buyers, considering the different makeup of household income when determining affordability,” Klinger said in an emailed statement to Spotlight Delaware.
Still, Klinger also noted that because the project uses federal COVID-era relief dollars, “it must meet a standard set by the federal government for affordable housing.”
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development states that affordable housing “is generally defined as housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30% of gross income for housing costs, including utilities.”
The median household income in the city of Wilmington is $58,671, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
According to Zillow, current homes for sale in the Southbridge area range between $129,000 and $270,000, while those located in the adjacent Christina Landing neighborhood can sell for $400,000 and above.
For residents of the Southbridge neighborhood, the redevelopment of the school brings with it mixed feelings.
Constructed in 1928, the school stood in the heart of the majority-Black neighborhood that’s deeply entrenched in political and civil rights history, stretching back to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Today the property is simply an empty field with only a skeleton of a foundation marking where the school once stood.
On Thursday, one resident, who said he lived in the area his entire life, called the Elbert-Palmer school the only monument that existed within the working-class neighborhood.
Two years ago, residents expressed similar sentiments, with some telling Spotlight Delaware that the demolition of the school would take a piece of the neighborhood’s history away. Many also felt that the demolition and housing decision was made without sufficiently engaging the community.
“This school meant so much to Southbridge,” Rich King, another lifelong Southbridge resident, said then.
How we got here
In December 2024, the Christina School District Board of Education transferred the school’s property to the Wilmington Land Bank.
As part of the deal, the state allocated $1.2 million for the demolition of the school and any related sitework. The Land Bank then received an additional $3 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for the project.
More than $2 million of that funding will go toward subsidizing the homes, Freel said. He added that he is also working to secure an additional $500,000 from New Castle County — money that was originally slated for the Land Bank to work on the city’s West Side — in an effort to redirect those funds to the Elbert-Palmer project and further support the subsidies.
Affordable housing has been a hot topic in Wilmington, especially after Mayor John Carney committed to creating a $20 million fund program to incentivize the construction of new housing in his budget address last month.
None of that $20 million would fund the Elbert-Palmer project, according to city officials.
Since the redevelopment plans have been underway, Freel and city councilwoman Michelle Harlee, who represents the area, said they haven’t heard concerns regarding the project.
Freel also set up a working group – made up of neighborhood organizations and individuals such as Rep. Frank Cooke (D-New Castle) – to discuss the project and provide feedback.
According to Freel, the initial plan for the site was to create 20 townhomes, leaving space for a new neighborhood park. But after hearing from the Southbridge Civic Association, he said community members preferred to have more housing.
“They didn’t feel they needed another park. They felt housing was more important. So that’s how we ended up with 30,” Freel said.
Each unit, under the updated plan, will be 1,500 square feet, with three bedrooms and one and a half bathrooms. Each unit will also have a porch, backyard space, and a personal driveway.
In order to prepare residents who live in the area to be able to purchase the new homes, the Neighborhood House, a housing nonprofit, is also working to provide housing counseling for those interested in purchasing the homes when they go up for sale.
