WILMINGTON — The latest project for the Riverwalk area in downtown Wilmington looks like it will bring a mix of retail, apartments, and a parking garage.
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Although not yet formally submitted, city planning staff have been working with the architect of a mixed-use project located on the Riverwalk, adjacent to the planned North Waterfront Park. The city has expressed interest in the development around the park, including options for parking for the Live Nation venue set to begin construction in 2019.
The proposed development will have two buildings: one mixed-use retail and apartment building, and one parking garage, separated by an extension of Nutt Street that will run from Harnett Street to the park entrance.
According to an email from Chase Anderson, the city’s principal urban designer, “the developer is proposing market-rate apartments with retail on the interior block of Nutt (not on the corners) with parking space and ‘sky bridge’ connection.”
The city has worked through several revisions with the architect, and the current proposal may not be the final version that is submitted to the city.
According to Anderson’s email, “My comments at this point will be to insert retail into the ground floor of the parking garage and create a mid-block connection to the garage at street level, thereby eliminating the ‘sky bridge.”
If the developer agrees, it would create retail on both sides of Nutt Street leading into the park, which the city prefers, according to Anderson’s comments.
The property will sit on land owned by Charles Schoninger’s USA InvestCo, which also owns the Port City Marina, Marina Grill, and other neighboring properties; a third-party is developing the project.
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