Chemours to sell historic DuPont building, but will stay in Wilmington

The Chemours company will sell its downtown Wilmington headquarters building to local developers Buccini/Pollin Group, with plans to lease the office space as a long-term tenant.

The announcement from the DuPont spin-off ended speculation about the company’s future in Wilmington. After Chemours separated from DuPont, there was concern among city and state leaders that the company could take its nearly 700 workers out of the city or even out of the state. 

“We followed a disciplined process deciding where to locate our headquarters,” said Chemours President and CEO Mark Vergnano. “We evaluated a number of locations against a range of criteria, including convenience of our current employees, our future workforce needs, and the fiscal impact on the company.” Vergnano said their current home in the DuPont Building satisfied all those needs.

As part of the company’s plan to stay in Wilmington, Chemours will sell the DuPont Building to Wilmington developers Buccini/Pollin Group and then lease back the space.

“BPG is honored to have the opportunity to work with Chemours to renovate the historic DuPont Building,” said Chris Buccini, co-president of BPG. “We look forward to playing a significant role in designing a headquarters that is suited for the company now and into the future.”

The building sale is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, with renovations expected to begin three months after the sale closes.

The company credits legislation passed by the Delaware General Assembly in 2016 with helping to keep Chemours in Delaware. The Delaware Competes Act updated the state’s corporate income tax laws to make them more competitive with income tax policies in other states.

“This is the best outcome we could have hoped for after learning that Chemours would be staying in Delaware for the long-term,” said Governor Jack Markell, D-Delaware. “It is fitting that the company, an independent entity that was formerly a portion of DuPont, should be a part of the plans to redesign the iconic DuPont building into a new and modern facility in the heart of downtown Wilmington.”