By Glenn Rolfe

SEAFORD — It certainly has been an exciting week for the city when it comes to economic development.

The day after Amazon announced it will be basing a distribution center in Seaford, City Council on Tuesday approved purchase and sale agreements with KRM Development Corp. for four lots in the Western Sussex Business Campus — a deal that potentially could mean hundreds of employment opportunities.

“This is huge,” said Trisha Newcomer, Seaford’s director of economic development/community relations. “Certainly, right on the heels of the announcement (about Amazon), this means a great deal to our community.”

City Council’s approval was 5-0.

“I feel like I have a need to thank God for his blessing on our town,” Seaford Mayor David Genshaw said. “We have truly been blessed in a very difficult time with these two very huge projects. Not that a lot of people haven’t worked very hard on this, but God has moved in a big way.”

Sussex County and the state of Delaware have investment interests in the Western Sussex Business Campus, an initiative sparked by developer interest in undeveloped city-owned land along Herring Run and Ross Station roads.

In November, Seaford officials delivered the business park pitch to Sussex County Council. Subsequently, the county pledged nearly $1.9 million over several fiscal years.

Delaware’s General Assembly also provided $350,000 to the business park expansion.

Under the agreement, the city will construct all roads and all utilities at its own expense, with assistance from Sussex County, the state’s bond bill and through tax increment financing — a public financing method used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure and other community-improvement projects in the United States and other countries.

“This is a big deal. The county has invested money. The state has invested money,” said Mayor Genshaw. “Certainly, the city has invested money to pay infrastructure out there in that vacant land. There is a commitment to build an approximate $4 million to $6 million warehouse there to attract businesses into the park. That is one thing we have been lacking; we don’t have ready-to-go, available space for people who want to start a business or move their business.”

Ms. Newcomer said that by applying for TIF funding and “working with the developer and some of their ratios that they have been able to apply to from some of their other business parks … this could mean potentially hundreds, almost a thousand, jobs for Seaford and our area.”

Total acreage in the sale is 44.73 acres. At $12,000 per acre, the total purchase price is $536,760.

As part of the deal, the purchaser agrees to construct a 50,000-square-foot-minimum building on lots 1, 2 or 7 no later than 18 months after the closing on the property.

Anticipated closing is sometime this summer, Ms. Newcomer said.

A groundbreaking could occur as soon as next month, Mayor Genshaw added.

As background, Ms. Newcomer said KRM is a full-service developer with facilities in seven states — Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania — with headquarters based in Chestertown, Maryland.

“By full service, that means they handle all phases of the development, from construction phase, leasing, space planning and maintenance … beginning to end,” she said.

According to Mayor Genshaw, KRM will construct a high-end building campus, typically brick or block-style buildings, with covenant standards that must be adhered to by business occupants.

Additionally, as part of the agreement:

• The buyer has first right of refusal on the remaining seven lots in the business campus.

• The city is required to grant the purchaser tax credits: 50% of property taxes the first two years and 25% the next three years. After the first five years, the purchaser must pay full assessment of property taxes.

Mayor Genshaw summed up the whirlwind start to spring for Seaford.

“It’s good, positive momentum,” he said. “And really a credit to past councils and elected people and past city administration for really setting the foundation for all this to happen.”