Buccini Pollin Group Celebrate Topping Out of 14-Story Multi-Family Apartment Community

The Press will bring 243 apartments to 801 N. Orange St in Summer 2025.

Wilmington-based developer Buccini Pollin Group, Inc. (BPG), BPGS Construction, and ResideBPG celebrated today the topping out of their latest residential development in Downtown Wilmington, The Press. During the ceremony, a structural beam was raised and installed to the top of the 14-story building, signifying a major milestone in the development of the 243-unit multi-family community coming to 801 N. Orange Street in the Summer of 2025.

Prior to remarks from Mayor Mike Purzycki, BPG Founder Rob Buccini, and BPG Executive Vice President of Development of Michael Hare; guests, neighbors, and project partners were invited to sign final structural beam installed in the building elevator shaft on the 14^th floor. The beam was adorned with an American flag and evergreen tree as per topping out tradition before being raising by the 241-foot-tall tower crane.

Designed by Perkins Eastman, the $90 million development will feature studio, one, two, and three-bedroom apartments and duplexes across the 1.15 acre site. The project includes a 14-story high-rise residential tower with a glass and metal façade, and amenity spaces located at ground level along Orange Street and on the fourth floor, which include an indoor lounge and social dining space as well as a roof deck with views of Downtown Wilmington. Accompanying the Orange Street tower is a 4-story brick clad residential building along 8th Street, with two story 3-bedroom duplexes accessed from the sidewalk and two levels of apartment flats above. Future phases include a second residential tower along Tatnall Street and townhomes on Girard Street.

Nestled between the various structures, a private exterior amenity space is designed for the interior portion of the site. The space will feature a pool, dog run, grill areas, and social spaces of various scales located within a landscaped park-like space. A porte-cochère is adjacent to the residential lobby for passenger drop-off, providing a visual connection to the expansive amenity space beyond. Finally, an intimate pocket park will be developed between the tower and duplex program with publicly accessed seating and landscaping. 

Aptly named, The Press pays tribute to the site’s history as the former headquarters for The News Journal. The News Journal moved from 831 Orange Street in 1989 to their current location outside of Downtown Wilmington, and the site was later converted to a surface parking lot. The Press will bring life back to the underutilized urban space with an expected 350+ residents. The Press is centrally located two blocks off Market Street and close to local employment hubs, the Wilmington Train Station and Transit Center, and neighborhood attractions.

In recent years, BPG has expanded its residential footprint in Wilmington off Market Street with the addition of a 200-unit apartment community at The Residences at Mid-town Park in 2018, and most recently at Crosby Hill, a 203-unit apartment located on Shipley Street which opened in October 2022.

“Our City continues to grow in ways we haven’t seen in many, many years. Businesses large and small continue to move to Wilmington, and more and more people are choosing to make their home here. Our Downtown neighborhood, which continues to be the beating heart of the City, is seeing a population explosion that is having positive ripple effects across all our neighborhoods, benefitting everyone,” said City of Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki. “I again thank our friends at BPG for investing in this ambitious housing project and drawing still more residents to town, and also for recognizing the history of this area through this impressive new building’s name, The Press. I share their boundless confidence in Wilmington’s future.”

To date, BPG has brought over 2,200 units to the residential market in Wilmington and has another 700 units under development or construction, including its latest development projects The Standard, located at Market West (former Nemours Building), and Humble Park, which is scheduled to open at 317 N Market St in Fall 2024.

“We are grateful for the support of all the City agencies, project partners, lenders, associates, and trades that make a project like this possible to bring economic development to our downtown,” said Rob Buccini, Founder of the Buccini Pollin Group. “When we first described our plan to revitalize Wilmington to Mayor Baker all those years ago, we had hoped to one day make it to Tatnall Street and here we stand today celebrating a building that will not only transform the skyline but the city itself.”

Buccini Pollin Group and BPGS Construction manage the development and construction of The Press, and BPG’s residential affiliate ResideBPG will handle leasing and property management. The development brings approximately 392 construction jobs to the City of Wilmington.

Photo credit should be given to Moonloop Photography and rendering credit to Perkins Eastman.

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