A rendering of the proposed retail portion of the former poultry processing plant redevelopment project.

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 16, 2026) A push to transform the dilapidated and dormant Tyson’s poultry building on Old Ocean City Boulevard into a vibrant commercial center is finally gaining some momentum now that the project has received site plan approval.

The Berlin Planning Commission last Wednesday endorsed the final site plans submitted by developer Palmer Gillis of Coastal Ventures Properties (CVP) for the first phase of a project to revitalize land that was once home to a Tyson Foods poultry processing facility.

Under the applicant’s plans, the 8.64-acre property known as parcel 57, which was part of the Heron Park parcel, will house three buildings and a landscaped community garden. Last week’s approval was for phase one only, which includes two of the campus’ intended structures. Medical offices are slated for the facility situated at the back of the land, while a retail or restaurant business will move into the front establishment.

Gillis, along with his development team, appeared before the Berlin Planning Commission their final plans for the project’s initial stage.

Gillis said that Chesapeake Health is likely to sign on as the rear building’s tenant upon completion of construction. Developers hope to secure a commercial operation for the front facility.

“The front building, we want to make it a lot more lively with retail or restaurants,” Gillis told the Bayside Gazette this week. “Something that the public interfaces with better.”

Plans for the garden center and building number three will be designed and reviewed at a later date.

“For building three, we will be coming back to you, and the garden center,” Gillis told the planning commissioners. “We are only submitting [plans] for phase one, which is buildings one and two.”

According to the elevation drawings, buildings one and two will feature new red brick veneer, a textured concrete block base, large storefront-style glass windows and black metal awnings. Decorative parapet walls will conceal the flat roof and rooftop equipment, while a protective parapet cap will provide a finished appearance along the roofline.

Developers said the red brick will align with the historic elements and colors found in downtown Berlin. Additionally, rather than a flat facade, the brick’s placement will have some “ins and outs,” or offsets, to provide texture, depth, and sun shading.

The size of building two, where the medical offices will go, is planned at approximately 22,200 square feet. The retail site, building one, will be around 18,777 square feet.

The planning commission unanimously approved CVP’s final site plans for stage one of parcel 57’s redevelopment, contingent on the applicant completing processes with Worcester County Soil Conservation and other outside agencies and addressing routine planning comments from Berlin staff.

Gillis added that he is nearing the end of talks with the Worcester County Soil Conservation and that he has submitted a stormwater management design to the town’s engineering consultant.

The parcel 57 redevelopment project dates back to 2022, when CVP wanted to purchase the land, along with Heron Park’s parcels 191 and 410, and create a mixed-use commercial complex. Those negotiations came to a halt in 2023, when the Berlin Town Council decided the municipality needed more time to consider how the land should be utilized.

But in the spring of 2025, CVP entered into another arrangement with the Town of Berlin to buy parcel 57 for $1.2 million. However, since that agreement was signed, the project’s future has been shrouded in uncertainty amid disputes between the municipality and the developer on the defined property boundaries.

On April 8, Gillis and his wife, Sandy, appeared before the Berlin Planning Commission despite not being included on the official agenda. Gillis complained that parcel 57’s property lines had not been agreed upon and that his repeated attempts to confirm the details with town leadership had been denied.

Gillis threatened at the April planning meeting that if an unconditional 12-month extension on their initial study period were not granted by April 20, CVP would terminate its commitment to buy the site.

The extension was ultimately approved, providing Gillis until April 2027 to walk away from the purchase agreement and have $100,000 deposit returned.

The boundary line debate arose because the town and CVP disagreed over how much of parcel 57 could be relinquished for redevelopment. Gillis asked that the property include 0.35 acres of the land’s boundary adjacent to Heron Park’s parcel 410.

In May, the Berlin Town Council approved an amendment to the land disposition agreement that incorporates just shy of a quarter-acre of the requested property into the purchase agreement.

Per this week’s final site plan approval, the redevelopment project continues to progress. Gillis said that he hopes CVP and the town can officially close on the property sale before the end of the summer.

“We’re very excited…our task right now is to keep the process moving so I can go to settlement as soon as possible,” Gillis told the Bayside Gazette on Monday. “We’re still ready to go to the settlement as soon as possible.”