LELAND — A 123-townhouse development on Highway 17, currently preparing for construction, could soon be annexed into the Town of Leland.
Leland Commercial will sit on approximately 29 acres of highway-facing property. For now, it’s located outside of Leland town limits in unincorporated Brunswick County.
Related: New mixed-use development, ‘Leland Commercial’ on Highway 17 gearing up for construction
The first phase of the project will bring 32 buildings and 123 townhouses. The project’s design leaves open the possibility for future commercial development with frontage on Highway 17.
Annexation, incentives
Buster Development LLC petitioned to voluntarily annex six contiguous parcels that make up the project to Leland on June 6. In October 2018, the Brunswick County Planning Board approved a preliminary site plan for the project.
The project is located directly across the highway from Hawthorne Waterside. In February, the town approved offering the Hawthorne project a $525,000 performance-based incentive to build out 708 apartment units alongside approving its voluntary annexation request.
In August, staff recommends Council set a public hearing for a proposed annexation, initial zoning, and development agreement for the properties.
Steve Shuttleworth, a member of Buster Development LLC, said the Leland Commercial project has been underway for more than two years. Public utilities were a challenge, he said, considering the ongoing inter-municipal litigation between Brunswick Regional Water and Sewer H2GO, Town of Belville, and Town of Leland.
“That stopped us for a while so they can all figure out what’s going on,” Shuttleworth said in February. Both water and sewer will be provided by H2GO, Brunswick County senior planner Mark Pages said in February.
Leland’s development agreement with Hawthorne Waterside included a provision that the town would provide sewer upon completion of its Highway 17 regional pump station project, which is still underway. At this point, it’s not clear whether the forthcoming development agreement with Buster Development will include a similar provision for the Leland Commercial project.
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