October 2005

Michael S. Purzycki, Executive Director, Riverfront Development Corporation

Michael Pursycki with Beverley Baxter & Diane Boc

When “New Century Waterfront,” the vision for the Christina Riverfront, was unveiled in 1994, there was much scoffing.  You couldn't even see the river because of all the warehouses, and skeptics declared no one would invest, let alone live, on the Riverfront.  And the plan's $1 billion dollar price tag and 25-year horizon were daunting.

But when the Riverfront Development Corporation of Delaware (RDC) was created in 1995 and then hired Mike Purzycki in 1996 to be its Executive Director, the early believers began to emerge.  After all, Mitchell Associates and Moeckel Carbonell had pioneered in 1985, Frawley Stadium followed in 1992 and Kahunaville in 1994, and now the RDC had some money and a mandate.  And it had Mike.

Mike Purzycki brought a unique combination to this new role.  He was an attorney, he had experience as a developer, and he knew the working of government from his tenure on New Castle County Council.

When Mike spoke to us in those early years, he noted that, with the first $10 million allocated to the RDC, he became the new best friend of many who wanted to make a quick buck inflating the value of their land along the riverfront.  He wasn't having it.  Instead, he proceeded to put together deals that made sense for the Riverfront.  Along the way, brownfields were cleaned, bulkheads were built, the riverwalk bloomed alongside the Christina, and project after project made believers out of skeptics.

Today the Riverfront has been transformed beyond even the expectations of the original vision.  It's not been easy.  And skeptics have mouthed off the whole time. But, look at it now!  AAA Mid-Atlantic just cut the ribbon on its magnificent new building, The Buccini/Pollin Group's townhouses near completion, and the BPG apartment tower has taken shape as the condo tower gets started.

And there's more to come.  Mike will bring us up to date on what's happening and the exciting things to come along the Christina Riverfront.

Beverley Baxter