Branmar Plaza promises nicer parking lot, less funky exit

Work is under way on the parking lot of Branmar Plaza in Brandywine Hundred. (Ken Mammarella photo)

Who would think that so many people would be so passionate about a parking lot?

John M. Young got dozens of comments in the Facebook “what’s going there in Delaware” group when he posted this: “The owners of Branmar Plaza are reworking the parking lot. New drains (much needed) and new curbing creating new lanes.”

Maybe the interest is because the shopping center, at Marsh and Silverside roads in Brandywine Hundred , has been “a staple of the community” for so many decades.

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Maybe it’s because consumers noticing the new facades in the 150,000-square-foot shopping center were wondering if the lot would be spiffed up.

Maybe it’s because the lot has been patched, repatched and re-repatched for so long.

Good news: If all goes according to plan, the new lot will be done by the holidays, with more spaces and a better layout.

“There have been growing pains and hand-wringing,” said Michael Turick, senior director of commercial properties for Capano Management, “but we are confident it will be a strong improvement and a welcome change.”

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The shopping center has spaces for three dozen stores in five buildings and is more than 90% occupied, he said.

The entrance/exit on Silverside is a (relatively) straight shot. It will remain “largely the same,” he said. Directly across Silverside is the site of the future Forwood Commons , a mixed-used development including three dozen townhomes and several commercial properties.

The entrance/exit on Marsh is a traditional entrance, but the exit, with its dogleg, “is just so funky,” he said. That “will be dramatically revised” to allow for two lanes to enter and two lanes to exit. There will be no light, because that entrance/exit is too close to the intersection of Silverside and Marsh.

Branmar Plaza’s service entrance/exit, to the north of the Marsh Road entrance/exit, will remain as is, and Capano is working on ways to “mitigate speeding” on that section of asphalt.

More and closer parking spaces

The pavement inside the center will be reconfigured, with the fire lanes moved away from the buildings, to allow for close-in parking, like what’s offered at the nearby Shoppes of Graylyn.

Crew installing new islands to separate parking from travel lanes have encountered pipes that need to be repaired or replaced to fight the drainage issues that are the likely causes of damage to the lot.

There will be new landscaping and LED lighting that will be “more user-friendly and safer,” he said.

More acreage on the edges will be striped for employee parking, raising the total number of spaces from 719 to 843.

The final paving will be done in phases, allowing all retailers and service providers to remain open.

All told, the work “is definitely long overdue,” Turick said. And when the work is done, he hopes that there will be some sort of community appreciation event.