Businesswoman Chapter 59

The properties on the West Side of Wilmington, Delaware looked worse than dilapidated, if that’s possible. Their crumbling structures looked like jagged, broken teeth. The bricks had tumbled into a lot occupied only by refuse including plastic, syringes, and shattered bottles of liquor.

Loreen and Lisa once again walked up to the buildings on the block that stretched from Fifth to Twenty-first streets.

“This could all be homes or maybe coffee shops,” Dyson Hendrickson remarked. He was tallish, dusky black with a strong jawline. He was in his mid-fifties but liked about forty-two.

As chief engineer of repurposing this area, he helmed the entire project. He sought Loreen and Lisa to glean ideas. They delighted in delivering them.

“What we should incorporate are banks, a grocery store, law offices, and military recruiting station,” Lisa suggested.

“Yes, we should still have residents who live nearby, but this whole area should be built up around businesses,” Loreen explained.

They walked around the premises like bandits scoping out a place to rob. They, yet, didn’t find any way to steal or destroy. Their mission remained to build up, not thieve and add to the decay.

“Now, ladies, this project will cost close to fifty million dollars if we bring law offices and groceries. A liquor store and a sub shop will be significantly less.”

“How much less?” Lisa asked.

“I’d say about ten to fifteen million. They’ll be more profitable and more clientele than with a bookstore or the aforementioned firms,” Loreen observed. “We should build them for the attorneys, grocers, and book lovers, regardless. It'll be worth it. I can throw in some millions. It’s just there’s usually a church or a liquor store on the corners of the streets. Both are bad signs to mental and physical wellness, respectively,” Loreen outlined.