WILMINGTON — As drivers head into the City of Wilmington along Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway they are greeted with views of a blackwater swamp, the Cape Fear River, and several vacant city-owned properties and warehouse-style buildings.
Now, the city is hoping to find a developer who can revitalize and redevelop several pieces of property that act as a gateway into Wilmington.
The properties located at 1020 N. Front, 908 and 922 N. Front, and 901 N. 3rd street are all city-owned and if things go according to plan, on Tuesday, City Council will vote to declare the property as surplus and begin accepting proposals for the redevelopment of the sites.
According to City Council’s agenda, the four properties would be combined into two different sites, A and B. The sites sit adjacent the to the city’s North Waterfront Park and the PPD campus.
An RFP or request for proposals is on the agenda and if signed, development teams from across the country are welcome to submit plans for the properties.
So what could go here? Well, as with other city-owned properties, City Council signed a resolution that gives preference to projects that include affordable housing — however, the city has yet to actually support any projects that do this. In fact, the city’s own public-private mixed-use development River Place — located several blocks away — will not have any affordable housing options with one-bedroom units starting at more than $300,000.
But if the sites are developed with any residential aspect, according to the RFP, “City Council has a vested interest in ensuring housing opportunities are available for a diverse income population, per a City Council resolution approved on November 21, 2017, requiring any city-owned property identified for development with a residential use include units available to middle-income wage earning families such as teachers, nurses, firefighters, and police officers.”
The sites
According to the RFP, “There are two distinct sites contained in this request. The sites are in close proximity and are positioned at the gateway to the northern downtown area. They are adjacent to the Wilmington Riverwalk overlooking the Cape Fear River, a few minutes’ drive from Wilmington International Airport (ILM), and provide immediate access to the Isabel Holmes Bridge.”
The two sites are known as A and B with A being labeled the ‘Gateway Site,’ there are also privately owned parcels adjacent to the city-owned properties that a developer could acquire through negotiations.
What could go here?
The city has a couple of different visions for the properties. At the Gateway Site, they hope to see some sort of public space or visitor’s center.
At Site B, the city is planning for a multi-use project consisting of both residential and commercial — much like the plans for River Place.
“The City envisions the sites’ development as modern, multi-use project(s) containing activated street fronts, commercial, residential, and public space(s). The sites’ designs should maximize density, allowing the area to reach its fullest capacity in this active urban setting while preserving east [and] west view sheds to the river,” According to the RFP.
Developers have 90 days from the time of approving the RFP to submit their ideas for the sites and can choose to submit plans for one or both sites.
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