Civic News

A new Wilmington developer breaks ground in the Heart of Hedgeville

There's another player in the city's residential development game: Donald J. Thompson III's Truth in Action Holdings.

Donald J. Thompson III. (Courtesy photo)

As the Buccini Pollin Group prepares to build more housing in Wilmington on the former Humble Park, I’ve overheard more than once that the city is living up to its reputation as a “one developer town.”

There’s another Wilmington housing development breaking ground in Hedgeville and challenging that: Truth in Action Holdings, led by CEO Donald J. Thompson III, is rebuilding on the vacant lot where the Jackson Street Boys and Girls Club once stood.

Heart of Hedgeville will be a row of six new four-bedroom homes, all claimed and under contract, each with a garage and front and back yards. The $299,000 starting price for the homes puts it above the range of what the FHA classifies as affordable housing, but they’re not out of reach for middle-class families.

Not that Thompson, who grew up in the neighborhood and spent much of his childhood at the Jackson Street Boys and Girls Club, doesn’t want to build affordable housing. It’s just more complicated, requiring government subsidization, something Thompson has not been able to secure, at least not yet.

The lot where new homes will be built

The Heart of Hedgeville lot. (Courtesy photo)

Getting shut out when trying to get ahead was something Thompson had long experienced. He knew he was interested in real estate even as a kid, but his life got off track, and getting back on was a challenge.

He landed a government job and thought for a while he might move up to a high-ranking position, but it wasn’t happening.

“I was very ambitious, but there’s only so high you’re going to climb when you look like I look,” Thompson told Technical.ly. “And that door slamming in my face wasn’t subtle. So I decided to do something else.”

One day after deciding to pivot to real estate and development, frustrated by the challenges of getting subsidies and high market prices, he drove by the vacant Boys and Girls Club. This time, he decided to go see the then-owners of the lot, who knew him from the neighborhood. They worked out a deal below market prices, allowing Thompson to build the middle-income housing and make a profit, he said, while adding value to the neighborhood.

“It adds equity into the surrounding homes,” Thompson said. “In that way, we enrich the people in the neighborhood.”

The new project also honored the Boys and Girls Club during its groundbreaking ceremony, complete with the presentation of a plaque that will be installed at the site when it’s finished.

With this project underway, Thompson said he’s always looking for more spaces to develop.

“I’m not looking to buy homes to live in, I’m buying to sell to people for a reasonable or affordable price,” he said. “We’re definitely looking to continue our development aspirations and stay in the game.”

Editor’s note: This story first appeared as a newsletter alongside a roundup of Technical.ly’s best reporting from the week, job openings and more. Subscribe here to get updates on Delaware tech, business and innovation news in your inbox on Thursdays.

Before you go...

Please consider supporting Technical.ly to keep our independent journalism strong. Unlike most business-focused media outlets, we don’t have a paywall. Instead, we count on your personal and organizational support.

3 ways to support our work:
  • Contribute to the Journalism Fund. Charitable giving ensures our information remains free and accessible for residents to discover workforce programs and entrepreneurship pathways. This includes philanthropic grants and individual tax-deductible donations from readers like you.
  • Use our Preferred Partners. Our directory of vetted providers offers high-quality recommendations for services our readers need, and each referral supports our journalism.
  • Use our services. If you need entrepreneurs and tech leaders to buy your services, are seeking technologists to hire or want more professionals to know about your ecosystem, Technical.ly has the biggest and most engaged audience in the mid-Atlantic. We help companies tell their stories and answer big questions to meet and serve our community.
The journalism fund Preferred partners Our services
Engagement

Join our growing Slack community

Join 5,000 tech professionals and entrepreneurs in our community Slack today!

Trending

A new model for thinking about how to grow regional economies: the Innovation Ecosystem Stack

Delaware’s next governor will be an entrepreneur. Here’s why Matt Meyer thinks it matters. 

20 tech community events in October you won’t want to miss

This Week in Jobs: Start Spooky Season with these 27 scary good career opportunities

Technically Media