SURF CITY — A unanimous vote by city council will ensure an 87,600-square-foot multi-use commercial development serves the Surf City community by the first half of 2028.
On Tuesday, June 2, the Surf City Council signed off on Tidal Development Company, LLC’s major site plan; the complex will be located off NC Highway 210, across from Cape Fear Community College’s Surf City campus. The council’s greenlight comes after the planning board recommended approval during its May 14 meeting.
To be built on 8.7 vacant acres, eight buildings will comprise 61 units, house various retail, office, and flex spaces. Flex spaces allow units to be versatile and engineered for a wide range of businesses to adapt it to their particular needs.
READ MORE: 60-unit development rezoning approved in Surf City to help business growth
Originally under office and institutional zoning, the land was rezoned to extended commercial in November of 2025, due to flex spaces not being permitted in O&I districts.
According to Mike Ellis of Tidal Development, the complex will consist of retailers, restaurants, and medical facilities will be at the front. The back will cater to service-based industries.
The development will be broked down to include 64,800 square feet for a specialty trade contractor, 10,800 square feet for medical offices, and a 12,000-square-foot strip mall.
“There is a huge need for this type of complex on this side of town, most of the retail and flex space is on the congested Highway 50 corridor, near the Surf City bridge,” Ellis said.
He also lives in Surf City and has his hand on the pulse of its needs; however, the development located on N.C. Highway 210 near Highway 17 is also convenient for surrounding neighbors beyond Surf City, such as people who live in Hampstead and Holly Ridge.
Also the location near Cape Fear Community College’s north campus is a benefit.
“We expect to have offerings that cater to both students and staff there,” Ellis said, adding it’s too close to announce the potential business tenets.
It will have 251 parking spaces and 25 bicycle parking spaces, both in compliance with zoning.
Because of the development’s size and traffic impact analysis requirement as a condition of the zoning change, the major site plan returned to council for another vote.
The TIA, which showed that AM and PM peak hour trips exceed 100 vehicles, required changes be made to the site plan. Developers will have to:
- Construct site access with one ingress lane and two egress lanes
- Align the eastbound approach with the existing Cape Fear Community College Driveway
- Provide an internal protected stem length of 100 feet
- Provide stop control for the eastbound approach
- Restripe the existing gore area to provide a northbound left turn lane on NC 210
- Construct a southbound right turn lane on NC 210 with 75 feet of storage and appropriate full-width deceleration and taper.
Also, should adjacent properties be developed, internal access connections may be proposed.
The council approved it with little discussion except councilman Andy Pleil highlighted a beneficial connection to Surf City’s multi-use path.
“Something I think our folks should know, and this is a very strong positive, is the multiuse path that runs by there will now be paid for by the developer,” Pliel said. “We’ll have a 10-foot-wide asphalt multi-use path from across that whole stretch of property that the town won’t have to pay for.”
Once all permitting is obtained, such as from N.C. Department of Environmental Quality, construction should begin within 12 months, according to Ellis.
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