LELAND — Leland Town Council has cleared the way for a medical expansion in the town’s northwest section in one of the state’s fastest-growing regions.
READ MORE: Leland Town Council moves forward with Jackey’s Creek annexation
The 955-acre Terrapin Landing mixed-use project needed to rezone approximately 37 acres from the multi-family and commercial zonings to office and institutional to include a new hospital from Novant Health. Terrapin Landing is a community located in northwest Leland, to feature 3,398 residential units and 34 acres of commercial space.
Last week, developers brought forth its master plan to change land uses in order to accommodate the hospital. The new plan removed 26 acres of commercial space and 387 multi-family units, balanced by a matching increase in single-family homes. Leland Town Council unanimously approved both the rezoning and a plan amendment on Dec. 18.
Novant announced plans for the hospital, to be known as the Novant Health Leland Medical Center, in October of 2025, concurrently filing its state certificate of need application. According to the state-required permit — which ensures a new medical facility is actually necessary for the community — the hospital will be 142,460 square feet and cost $251.3 million in total. The certificate of need is currently under review by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, with a decision expected by the agency in early 2026.
Features of the new facility include 20 licensed care beds (including four ICU beds), a 24/7 emergency department with 10 observation beds, and five procedure rooms, four of which are built to full operating room standards.
Attorney Sam Franck with the Ward and Smith law firm spoke on behalf of the applicant, Malmo Ventures, LLC. Franck explained, while Leland has medical facilities concentrated centrally near U.S. Highway 17, the northwest section has remained underserved. The hospital will be built off of U.S. Highway 74 and Malmo Loop Road.
“A hospital is a community priority for the town of Leland,” Franck said. “This is not difficult for me to connect the dots to explain it would be a community investment. Medical services, in general, contribute to a healthy lifestyle and quality healthcare.”
While the Novant Health Leland Medical Center will offer in-patient options, growing residents in the area are seeing the expansion of outpatient care as well, with Novant’s separate Ambulatory Surgery Center on the U.S. Highway 17 corridor, scheduled to open in 2026.
The multi-family reduction of Terrapin Landing was balanced by a matching increase in single-family homes, so the total unit count of 3,398 remained unchanged. Franck explained both single and multi-family units were reallocated to other sections of the development to maintain the project’s overall density, while keeping the hospital site clear. Currently, there are no units built on the site, though construction is expected to start in early 2026.
Changes to the master plan were made possible in part by the inclusion of a 5-acre parcel that had previously existed under split jurisdiction — meaning it was outside the town’s planning authority and under county supervision even though the majority of the site is within town limits.
As a result Malmo Ventures elected to voluntarily annex the parcel under Leland’s jurisdiction so the hospital site and the greater Terrapin project would all be governed by the same town zoning rules, utility connections, and protocols. Franck noted recombining the land with the surrounding Terrapin parcels effectively fills a hole in the master plan to allow space for the hospital and the reallocation of single-family homes.
Ultimately, council decided to approve the new plan after little deliberation, with no members of the public speaking for or against the changes.
The vote marked the final official act for council members Richard Holloman and Bill McHugh. Holloman retired from the board, while McHugh was unseated by Leland Hyer and Frank Pendleton, both sworn in immediately following the session. McHugh made the final motion to approve the changes to Terrapin.
The decision comes as Leland continues its trajectory as one of the fastest-growing towns in the state. Since 2020, the town’s population has surged by 44%, growing from 23,000 to over 33,000 residents. At the current rate, the town is projected to reach 50,000 residents by 2030 — the same year the new hospital is slated to open.
The new site will serve as the primary emergency care stop for thousands of residents in major neighboring developments. This includes Compass Pointe, a 2,200-acre development adjacent to Terrapin, with more than 2,000 single-family homes, and East Lake, a 2,100-acre mixed-use project equaling 4,900 more units.
These developments alone represent over thousands of residents who currently face a roughly 15 or 20 minute drive to reach the nearest hospital. For many, that means traveling about 12 miles across the bridge to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, 21 miles to Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center in Bolivia, or 26 miles to Dosher Memorial Hospital in Southport.
Site preparation and initial grading at the Terrapin Landing site for the hospital is expected to commence in early 2027, following final permitting. If DHHS issues the certificate of need in early 2026, the new hospital is scheduled to open by January 2030.
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