Taxpayer-Funded Bribes Could Only Keep Incyte Here–Until Today
Less than two years after buying two downtown Wilmington properties known as Bracebridge I and III on 11th Street at King and French streets, Incyte Corporation announced on Tuesday afternoon, February 11, 2026, that they are selling the buildings to Buccini Pollin Group (BPG).
WDEL learned in early December that work had stopped on the two projects, however, neither Incyte nor the City of Wilmington or State of Delaware would confirm the work stoppage.
According to a WDEL news story in May, 2024, the biotech company headquartered in Alapocas was due to receive nearly $15 million in state grant funding in support of the expansion: $9 million is through a Jobs Performance Grant from the Council on Development Finance; and, over $5.5 million from the Delaware Strategic Fund for a Graduated Lab Space Grant.
WDEL has requested comment from the Governor’s Office if any of the money had been distributed and if so, if the state would attempt to claw any funding back.
According to Incyte the company will contribute toward the development costs of both buildings and will then lease approximately 80,000 square feet of space across two floors in Bracebridge I.
The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.
This grant was the result of (Delaware’s Worst Governor Ever) John Carney’s scheme to ‘privatize’ state economic development, including, but not limited to, exemptions from FOIA.
Matt Meyer has indicated, but hasn’t acted on it yet, that he wants less of this quasi-governmental largesse when it comes to doling out tens of millions of public dollars to corporations.
Anyone surprised that Buccini-Pollin is buying these properties? Certainly not John Carney, the Mayor of Buccini/Pollinville, and only Buccini/Pollinville.
Call it what it is: Delaware Way shit with someone (not you) pocketing a lot of your taxpayer dollars.
Graft Smoothing!
Come on, everybody’s doing it. Didn’t you hear, its all ok now.
More insights on Incyte: https://delawarebusinesstimes.com/news/incyte-to-sell-bracebridge-buildings-to-bpg/
Thanks. There is so much bullshit from the Usual Suspects in that article including, of course, the Mayor Of Buccini/Pollinville:
““Partnering with BPG brings valuable local development expertise to this important site in downtown Wilmington,” Incyte CEO Bill Meury said in a prepared statement. “This approach enables us to concentrate on our business priorities and long-term growth, while allowing us to stay involved in the project and create additional space for our workforce.”
Gee, thanks for that. Will the taxpayers who financed this boondoggle be made whole? Somebody, anybody?
Oh, yes, the Mayor:
““The development of the Bracebridge properties reflects the sustained momentum we’re seeing in downtown Wilmington,” Carney said in a prepared statement to the Delaware Business Times. “Both Incyte and Buccini Pollin Group have helped to strengthen economic vitality here in Wilmington, and this transition is another boost to the Rodney Square area and will lead to continued investment with long-term benefits for our entire city.”
Is this mic on? Incyte BACKED OUT of a deal financed by us. Betcha Buccini/Pollin got the buildings at a distressed rate. Carney’s not a sucker, he’s just another leech.
This stinks.
This was by design. Here’s how the hustle works- of course incyte gets DPP $, but more importantly, the demonstration of state buy-in helps secure favorable financing for the purchase and remodel. Incyte starts the work, but because it’s not finished it doesn’t take a big tax hit when it sells the building. BPG gets a good deal, and kicks back to incyte via favorable rent terms. Incyte no longer is a landlord and can write off the rent as a business expense.
That all makes sense.
The Chamber could USE someone with your devious mind…
Our friend’s analysis is spot on. It is crystal clear that the buyer and seller here most likely had the plan in place prior to the initial purchase. All we need to do is FOIA that and it will become clear…….. Oh wait…… John Carney is in the tank (on the take?) and us peons get the privilege of underwriting the BPGification of the city for the umpteenth time!
You won’t be able to FOIA. Everything is handled in phone calls, personal meetings, and with personal email addresses. But yeah these strategies are pretty common.
It’s kind of like how RDC pre-emptively subdivided riverfront east to turn approximately 5 large brownfield sites into 15 small sites. Fun fact-the cleanup grants are not proportional to acreage. They effectively tripled the cost burden on the taxpayer for the cleanups
In other words, the ‘non-public’ agency that gifted these millions to Incyte were co-conspirators.
More like partners! The naked corruption is stunning kinda like they can do this stuff with impunity, which they have!