Historic Dupont Building In Delaware Sold

The seller, Chemours, will lease back office space as a long-term tenant, maintaining its global headquarters in Wilmington, DE.

The Chemours Company (Chemours) has announced it has entered into an agreement to sell The DuPont Building to The Buccini/Pollin Group, Inc. (BPG), a privately held, full-service real estate acquisition, development, and management company. Chemours will lease back office space as a long-term tenant, maintaining its global headquarters and nearly 700 employees in downtown Wilmington. The sale is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2017, and renovations will begin approximately three months after the close to transform a major portion of this multi-use building into The Chemours Company world headquarters.global headquarters

Until early 2015 the building housed DuPont’s headquarters. In December 2014 DuPont announced that it was moving and consolidating its corporate headquarters at its nearby Chestnut Run Plaza site and that its wholly owned subsidiary, The Chemours Company would move into the DuPont Building. The DuPont Building, which served as that companys’s headquarters for 107 years until the move in 2014, also houses the Hotel DuPont and a 1,250-seat theater.

“We followed a disciplined process deciding where to locate our headquarters,” said Chemours President and CEO Mark Vergnano. “We evaluated a number of locations against a range of criteria, including convenience of our current employees, our future workforce needs, and the fiscal impact on the company. Ultimately, our decision to stay in our current building satisfied all of those considerations. And we are very excited to be working with BPG to create a modern office environment that will be a reflection of our corporate brand.”

Chris Buccini, Co-President and Founder of The Buccini/Pollin Group, said, “BPG is honored to have the opportunity to work with Chemours to renovate the historic DuPont Building. Our team is very excited to be partnering with Chemours in its endeavor to remain in the great city of Wilmington and in the building that is so much a part of its heritage. We look forward to playing a significant role in designing a headquarters that is suited for the company now and into the future.”

Governor Jack Markell played an important role in helping Chemours make its decision, including supporting legislation in 2016 (the Delaware Competes Act) that updated and reformed the state’s corporate income tax law. The legislation, which made Delaware’s corporate tax policies for businesses large and small more competitive with other states in the Mid-Atlantic region, enjoyed strong bi-partisan support in both chambers of the Delaware Legislature thanks in no small measure to the leadership of House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, the bill’s chief sponsor.

Outgoing Governor Markell, said: “This is the best outcome we could have hoped for after learning that Chemours would be staying in Delaware for the long-term. It is fitting that the company, an independent entity that was formerly a portion of DuPont, should be a part of the plans to redesign the iconic DuPont Building into a new and modern facility in the heart of downtown Wilmington. I am confident that The Buccini/Pollin Group will lead this work effectively and create a world-class, multi-use facility we can all be proud of.”