By 1808Delaware
A proposed Sunbury Road commercial center would bring new restaurant and medical office space, with Chipotle among the first confirmed tenants. A new commercial project planned for Delaware’s east side took another step forward on May 6, as the city’s Planning Commission recommended approval of a development plan for part of Trailhead Crossing West.
The project is planned for 10.3 acres along Sunbury Road, east of Skyview Lane and south of Biltmore Drive. The site has been moving through the city review process since late last year, when rezoning plans first introduced the possibility of a new commercial center that could include Delaware’s first Chick-fil-A and a second Chipotle restaurant.
Delaware City Council finalized rezoning for the property in February, allowing Illinois-based GTZ Properties to proceed under a commercial planned unit development designation.
According to planning documents presented during the May 6 meeting, Trailhead Crossing West is designed to include six commercial and retail lots. The current development plan focuses on two of them.
Lot B would include a 2,380-square-foot Chipotle restaurant with a drive-thru on a 0.75-acre parcel. Chipotle already operates one Delaware location at 1710 Columbus Pike, making the proposed Sunbury Road site the city’s second. Lot C would include a 6,900-square-foot multi-tenant building on 1.06 acres. That building is planned for a medical office and two restaurant tenants, including one with a drive-thru. Together, the two lots would share 79 parking spaces.
The proposal reflects the kind of commercial pattern increasingly familiar along Delaware’s growth corridors: quick-service restaurants, medical office space, drive-thru access, and multi-tenant buildings designed to serve nearby residents and commuters. For the Sunbury Road area, Trailhead Crossing West would add another layer of retail and service activity near existing residential neighborhoods and travel routes on the city’s east side.
With the Planning Commission’s recommendation now in place, the proposal is scheduled to go before Delaware City Council on June 8. If approved, the action would move the first pieces of Trailhead Crossing West closer to construction, bringing the long-discussed commercial project nearer to reality on one of the city’s active development edges.
