TD Bank to open at Tanger Outlet Midway

photo by Ryan Mavity

By Ryan Mavity - Cape Gazette

Rehoboth Beach — Tanger Outlets is preparing for the addition of a new tenant at its Midway outlet - TD Bank - as well as a new parking deck and improvements to the traffic flow leading shoppers in and out of the complex.

Amy Norgate, general manager of Tanger Outlets, said the first part of the project is preparing site work for the new bank, which is to be built on what has been the parking lot. The retention pond will be relocated to in front of the new parking deck.

The Midway branch would be the first Sussex County branch for TD Bank, which has stores in Bear, Wilmington, Dover, Hockessin, New Castle and Newark. TD Bank has branches up and down the East Coast from Maine to Florida. It's main offices are in Portland, Maine and Cherry Hill, N.J.

Jimmy Hernandez, spokesman for TD Bank, said the Midway store will have a remote drive-thru and will be energy-efficient. He said TD Bank was shooting for LEED Silver certification.

Norgate said the design of the project will allow the Midway outlet to have more parking but also mitigate any problems with storm water runoff and retention. She said the first part of the project, including setting up the utilities for the bank, will take about three months. Norgate said she did not have an exact  date for when the bank will open. In total, the project will take about four months. Hernandez said TD Bank is shooting for an opening date in the second half of 2012.

The project also calls for reconfiguring the entrance, in order to make it more functional, Norgate said. Motorists will head straight into the complex, instead of encountering the fork in the road that existed before construction began.  Traffic flow will be more like it is now, during construction, Norgate said.

She said the new traffic design will be more efficient and provide better traffic flow.
Norgate said the new parking deck would be for Tanger Midway customers, not just bank customers.

She said while it seems illogical to do a big construction project like this during one of the busiest times for the outlets, Tanger needed to move forward. Shoppers have been intrigued by what's going on, but for the most part it has been business as usual, she said.

The project is being developed by Tanger and C70 Builders of South Carolina with subcontracting work by A.P. Croll and Son of Georgetown.