NEW HANOVER COUNTY — The City of Wilmington’s initiative to create a park out of 25 acres on Greenville Loop Road narrowly received approval from purchasing partner New Hanover County on Monday. Some commissioners raised concerns over transparency in the sale process.
The county commissioners ultimately voted 3-2, with Democrats Rob Zapple and Stephanie Walker against, to provide $1 million toward the purchase of 6325, 6335, 6341, and 6345 Greenville Loop Road. The money will be pulled from the county’s tree fund, which has $1.16 million.
READ MORE: City anticipates another $10M investment for Greenville Loop park venture
The funding matches the city’s contribution and the county’s participation was needed to secure a $7.75 million grant from The New Hanover Community Endowment to purchase the property. However, the city is solely responsible for creating and designing, constructing and maintaining the park.
“I’m happy to recommend the county participate in that match,” County Manager Chris Coudriet said Monday. “It’s a dollar in and a dollar out, the county has no ongoing operational responsibility, it has no building responsibility for the park, but it does get to be memorialized as a contributor to the acquisition and, ultimately, the development of that park.”
Zapple and Walker said they could not vote for the measure due to unanswered questions.
“I applaud both the city and The Endowment for bringing the motion forward, but in addition to our commitment to parks and green space, I believe that local governments have another obligation of equal, or perhaps even greater importance — the obligation to conduct all of our business with complete transparency,” Zapple said.
He said there have been “legitimate” questions raised about the sale price of $9.75 million, which Zapple pointed out is more than four times the value assigned to the property in last year’s property valuation. The commissioner said the wide margin deserves further review and also questioned whether it was appropriate to appraise the land, destined to be a park, based on its highest and best use if it were developed. But this is a typical practice for property appraisers.
Chair LeAnn Pierce defended the appraisal.
“When we ask for two licensed appraisers in our community — very well respected — to appraise this property and they come back so close, that gives me reason to believe it is the right price,” Pierce said.
The city used JC Morgan for its appraisal; it came in at $10.06 million and city council unanimously voted to purchase the property on Feb. 4.
The county’s independent appraisal was done through G. Brad White and Associates and came in at $9.4 million.
Port City Daily reached out to a separate appraiser unaffiliated with the project to find out if a $600,000 or so gap falls within a reasonable range; he confirmed the spread was not problematic.
Zapple also took issue with the lack of complete information on the partners of the LLC that currently owns some of the properties. He asked that whoever holds the land title to be identified and stated that 19.12 acres of the 25-acre site were “a gift” to the LLC.
“To ask this question of ownership is not to infer anything unethical or illegal,” Zapple clarified. “If this were a deal between two commercial real estate brokers or developers, it might be no reason to ask the question. But there is almost $10 million of public money involved in this transaction. I believe transparency, full disclosure, is not only advisable, it is absolutely necessary.”
New Hanover County property records show James Halsey has owned the 19.12-acre parcel since 1976 and transferred it to 6325 GLRD LLC in November for $0. Documents show the LLC is managed by Jeffrey Baker but don’t list the members of the LLC. The other three parcels are owned by GLOOP 6341 LLC, managed by Sam Potter; all three were sold by individual property owners to the LLC in 2025.
Zapple advocated against moving forward the partnership approval Tuesday until details on the matters he raised were further clarified, despite the sellers apparently having another offer on the table with a deadline of Feb. 28. Commissioner Walker concurred.
“I would like to echo all the sentiments Commissioner Zapple pointed out and I want to be clear I strongly support green space acquisition and conservation,” she said.
However, commissioners Bill Rivenbark, Dane Scalise and Pierce were satisfied with county staff’s due diligence thus far.
“We have said over the last couple of years it is important for us to develop green space in this community and that not every parcel in this community needs to be turned into houses or apartments and here’s an example of us achieving that,” Scalise said.
The county has made several land purchases in the last year, including the $11.6-million Flossie Bryan tract at 3900 Independence Blvd. and two properties totalling $2.4 million on the west bank of the Cape Fear River. Both will be preserved as green space.
Scalise also touted the approval as evidence of the county’s desire to partner with the city. Over the last year, the county has severed ties with the city on several fronts, including a joint strategy to address rising homelessness in the area and two joint committees on housing and community relations. Recent reporting from Port City Daily has also highlighted a rift between the two government’s willingness to fund the Wave Transit bus system.
“Sometimes we have disagreements over what our policies should be, but here’s an area where we have agreement,” Scalise said. “7-0 vote at the city council, seven of the city council members all voted in favor of moving forward with this project and said this is a very good project and then they hoped that we would partner with them.”
At its Feb. 4 meeting, City Manager Becky Hawke estimated the cost to build out the park at $10 million for basic amenities, like parking and bathrooms.
“And then how grand or not it goes from there would be based on available budgets, community input, council desires, and figuring out where we land from there,” Hawke added.
The Endowment has stipulated the park be operational within five years, else its grant would need to be returned. Hawke anticipated phase one of the park, funded through the city’s next capital improvement plan, would satisfy the condition. The park must also exist for 99 years and if the city attempts to dispose of the property within 10 years, it would have to repay the county its investment.
Zapple’s closing remarks took aim at these parameters and questioned the necessity of the county being financially involved for the project to move forward.
“The city has specific responsibilities to taxpayers, the county also has legal obligations; The Endowment has no such legal responsibilities or obligations and is free to purchase the land for the park at whatever cost,” he said. “Why is The Endowment trying to influence how the city or county spends its taxpayer money? What kind of precedent does that set for the future of New Hanover County?”
Port City Daily reached out to The Endowment to raise the same question but did not receive a response by press.
Reach journalist Brenna Flanagan at brenna@localdailymedia.com.
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