Senators and Surrounding Development

Revised:  7/2/2024

Nearby Projects of Interest:

Website:  Citizens for Responsible Kings Highway Development

Senators, Lewes DE

The Senators community consists of 229 homes located on Gills Neck Road in Lewes, Delaware.  Since development began in 2012, the area surrounding Senators has experienced substantial growth.  The purpose of this website is to provide current information about what is known about development projects completed, in progress or planned.  

Start here with a review of the Overview MAP of Surrounding Development.  

Make sure to view the DelDOT Kings Highway page for the latest information about the capital transportation program (CTP) planned for Kings Highway, aka 5 Roundabouts.  DelDOT's last public update was in February 2022 so we should expect more information this year.  Construction on this project will likely begin in 2026/2027 and take two years.

As a result of agreements made with the Mitchell's Corner Developer's, DelDOT requested "Interim" improvements be made to the Kings Highway - Gills Neck Road intersection to accomodate additional traffic generated by the Mitchell's Corner project.    The "Interim" improvements will take place before the DelDOT Kings Highway CTP is underway.  Read about the Interim Improvements here.  The interim improvements are currently in the design phase but construction should begin around the time you see Mitchell's Corner begin development, which will be soon.

The Development Statistics page provides details about each development including:  #units, acreage, units per acre and other detail.  Expand the spreadsheet to view all the spreadsheet information.

Note:  The map and most site information is best viewed on a computer or tablet vs a phone.

Vehicular Connection with Governors:  Senators has a planned vehicular connection with Governors at JG Townsend Boulavard and the Governors intersection of Marvil Road and Haslet Road.  Vehicles using this connection will ultimately be able to move from and to the Village Center Cottages, the Village Center Shopping Center and Kings Highway at Stokeley Blvd/Clay Road (proposed roundabout).  Governors Blvd and a new, yet unnamed, Village Center Cottages access road, across from the medical center access road, Cygnet Drive, will allow vehicles to travel from and to Gills Neck Road and the features above including eventual access to the undeveloped Townsend parcel south of the barn.

Surrounding Development - Site Plans and Documents

Click the underlined to link to more information about a specific development, site plan or project.

Senators:  229 single homes on about 115 acres.  Entrance on Gills Neck Road.  Development complete.

Governors:  423 units on about 118 acres.  Mix of single and townhomes.  Main entrance on Gills Neck Road.  Development nearly complete.

Hawkseye:  162 single homes on about 170 acres.  Entrance on Gills Neck Road.  Development mostly complete with some infill lots available.

Village Center Cottages:  102 single homes situated between Governors and the Village Center Shopping Center.  Preliminary site plan was reviewed by Sussex Planning & Zonning on May 25th and deffered the vote until their 6/22/2023 P&Z meeting.  See the preliminary site plan and visit the P&Z application links below for relevant documents and to make public comments to P&Z about the project.  The project vote was deferred by Sussex County Council on 6/27/2023.  12/5/2023 SCC reviewed and approved the Cottages with the addition of condtions to the conditional use.  See links below.

Village Center Shopping Center:  75,000 square foot shopping center at the corner of Kings Highway and Gills Neck Road.  The preliminary site plan shows 9 retail stores.  The final site plan will be submitted by the developer after several requirements are addressed and then reviewed by Sussex County P&Z.  Submission to P&Z is imminent.  The project is currently held pending DelDOT right-of-way issues required for Kings Highway improvements.

Townsend Owned Undeveloped Parcel South of Barn, Kings Highway - Plans for this large parcel, about 30 acres, have not been made known to the public.

LIC Housing:  1/24/2024 PLUS Review:  A site-plan review for LIC Housing, 5.2 acres on the west side of Kings Highway south of the Clay Road intersection. Up for review is a site plan for a 125,000-square-foot, three-story independent living facility with 95 units plus an attached 4,000-square-foot restaurant and 2,165-square-foot fitness center. A conditional-use application will be required. The property is adjacent to New Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Mitchell's Corner:  Mitchell's Corner is two projects, first a new three-story office building to be built next to the existing two-story medical building and second, 267 townhomes and duplexes.  This project will get underway any day.

The Lodge at Historic Lewes:  175 units on about 10 acres.  This project is in the City of Lewes.  Main entrance is on Kings Highway.  Project is adjacent to Dutchman's Harvest with connectivity to Savannah Road.  The project is under construction and substantially completed.

Dutchman's Harvest Workforce Housing:  140 units on about 9 acres.  This project is in the City of Lewes.  Main entrance is on Savannah Road.  Project is adjacent to The Lodge at Historic Lewes with connectivity to Kings Highway.  This project is in the early stages of construction.

First Baptist Church of Lewes:  This project will build a new church, remove the old one and install a new parking lot.  The project is in both the City of Lewes and in Sussex County.  The parcel is important because it has substantial frontage on Kings Highway and the access road to Bay Breeze Estates/Jefferson Apartments

Olde Town at White's Pond:  86 single homes of about 37 acres.  This project is in the City of Lewes with entry off Freeman Highway on Monroe Avenue. A new signaled intersection is planned at Freeman and Monroe.  Development is underway.  Streets within the development will be mainted by the City of Lewes as opposed to private roads as found in Sussex County developments.

White's Pond Preserve:  A 13-lot major subdivision is planned for an 8.2-acre site off Freeman Highway in Lewes at Monroe Avenue.

Monroe Ave & Freeman Highway Traffic Signal:  Lewes-area traffic signal work starts March 6, 2023  The Delaware Department of Transportation will begin work Monday, March 6, at the intersection of Freeman Highway and Monroe Avenue, Lewes. Work will include roadway, entrance and pedestrian improvements, and installation of a new traffic signal. These improvements are required by the Olde Town at White’s Pond development. Road users can expect lane shifts from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and intermittent nighttime lane closures from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., Tuesday through Friday. The project is expected to finish in June.

Gibbs Commercial Property:  209 Monroe Avenue at Freeman Hwy, Lewes.  A 12,000 SF commercial building with 9,000 SF of micro retail spaces and a 2 story restaurant with 6,000 SF of floor area. Off-street parking will be provided on-site with sidewalks and a connection to the junction breakwater shared-use path along Freeman Highway. Landscaping will be provided in the parking islands and in front of the buildings.  Entrance from Monroe Ave acorss form entrance to Olde Town White's Pond.

Lewes Mayor and City Council approved plans for a commercial building along Monroe Avenue Extended during their April 10 meeting.

The joint site ad hoc review committee held a public hearing Feb. 7 to discuss the plans with property owner and applicant Gibbs Company Inc., and mayor and city council’s green light included several committee recommendations.

Gibbs Company Inc. must consider the use of dark sky lighting, increase use of pervious surface where possible, dim or turn lights off after business hours, consider historic windows for the building, ensure ADA access for both buildings, provide bike racks under the awnings, consider installation of EV charging stations, and provide architectural and landscaping plans for all four sides (already completed).

Tim Ritzert was the lone no vote, citing safety concerns at the intersection of Monroe Avenue and Freeman Highway. Other council members shared his concerns but plan to discuss safety improvements in the future.

Kings Highway Warrington Rezoning: 2/28/2024 PLUS Review:  (2024-02-01) Retail shopping Center, 1.59 acres fronting Kings Highway.  Area behond parcel is under review by City of Lewes for annexing.   Project: Review of a proposed Rezoning of 1.529 acres from AR-1 (Agricultural-Residential) to C-2 (Medium Commercial).

Overfall Preserve (Breakwater Partners LLC):  Lewes approves Savannah Road parcels annexation:  Lewes Mayor and City Council unanimously approved the annexation of three parcels located on Savannah Road that are owned by Breakwater Partners LLC. The vote at the April 8 council meeting followed the recommendation from the city’s annexation committee. Council also unanimously voted to zone the annexed parcels R-5.  A meeting link can be found at lewes.civicweb.net.

Showfield:  166 single homes on about 132 acres.  The project is in Sussex County, not the City of Lewes.  Development roads are private, like Senators.  Main entrance is on Gills Neck Road with a second planned entrance on Monroe Avenue.  Showfield is persuing gating the Monroe Avenue entrance.  P&Z reviewed the gate application on 5/25/2023 and 6/22/2023. The development is mostly complete with infill lots available.

Henlopen Bluff:  This new community in the City of Lewes is planned for 79 single homes on about 62 acres filling in the remaining cornfields viewable from Gills Neck Road.  The main entrance is planned for Gills Neck Road with the potential for interconnectity with Showfield at or near Battlemixer Drive.  The developent is in the very early planning stages.

Wolfe Point:  175 single homes on 189 acres in Sussex County with entry on Gills Neck Road.  Development is complete with the exception of a few infill lots.

Wolfe Runne:  82 single homes on about 108 acres in Sussex County with entry on Gills Neck Road.  Development is complete with the exception of a few infill lots.

Admirals Chase:  12 twin homes (24 units) situated on about 7.5 acres in Sussex County with entry on Gills Neck Road.  Development is complete.

Breakwater:  36 townhomes, 69 twin homes and 80 single family homes on about 81 acres in Sussex County with entry on Gills Neck Road.  Development is adjacent to the Moorings with the interconnectivity closed and Bay Breeze Estates in the City of Lewes, with no interconnectivity.  Development is complete.

The Moorings:  215 units on about 38 acres in Sussex County with entry on Gills Neck Road.  The Moorings has plans to expand onto 5 acres adjacent to Mitchell's Corner previously purchased from the Mitchell family.

PLUS Review:  A site-plan review at 9 a.m. will address Springpoint – The Moorings at Lewes, 17028 Cadbury Circle off Gills Neck Road. Under review are improvements to an existing senior living facility to remove seven units and add 53 units for a net total of 46 new units added to the 38-acre facility. The Moorings will increase from the existing 215 mixed units to 261 units.

TBD - Other large undeveloped parcels with access to Kings Highway - Potential Future Development

Citizens for Responsible Kings Highway Development - website intended to educate and communicate development issues along the Kings Highway corridor to the public.

This site and the information contained are managed by Jay Tomlinson, jaythrrep@aol.com. Please direct questions about the website and content to Jay Tomlinson.  Please email idnetified inaccuracies, mis-statements and corrections to Jay Tomlinson.