WILMINGTON — A plan to bring hundreds of more housing options to Independence Boulevard has been put on hold at the moment. Community members are calling for the land there to be preserved, after a county commissioner dubbed it fit to create “Airlie 2.0.”
READ MORE: 580-unit development under consideration, commissioner advocates for conservation
The City of Wilmington Planning Commission was to consider the rezoning of almost 61 acres at 3990 Independence Blvd. this month. Charlotte developer Northwood Ravin submitted plans to build 512 apartments, 45 townhomes, and 25 single-family units. It would take up roughly 46 acres, with the rest, consisting of wetlands and located in flood zones, conserved.
The applicant’s representative, Cindee Wolf of Design Solutions, confirmed to Port City Daily its withdrawal “in this process cycle.” A reasoning as to why was not given upon being requested, nor did the developer respond to PCD on whether the application will be resubmitted.
Its removal comes as many community members have advocated for its preservation, after Commissioner Dane Scalise brought it up at a recent commissioner meeting.
Scalise told PCD he did not know the reason behind the withdrawal, as the county is not involved in the rezoning application. However, the county does own two-thirds of the land.
The area — located between Independence Boulevard and Southgate Road — has a convoluted past. It was once owned by Flossie Bryan, who died in June 2003, but executed a will in 2000 that bequeathed the land to the county to develop a park or community garden. But in May 2002, she appeared at the courthouse to reclaim the will, which was then destroyed a week later. A month before, a medical professional determined Bryan had dementia and wasn’t mentally viable to revoke the will.
The matter ended up in court, in front of a jury that concurred Bryan couldn’t revoke the will. However, seven heirs to Bryan appealed the decision in 2006 and became owners of one-third of the land. An agreement was reached for the county to rezone the property to its “highest and best use” before selling it, with one-third of the proceeds going to the heirs, the rest to the county.
According to court documents, in March 2022 the county filed a petition for a declaratory judgment to determine the rights and status of parties involved in the agreement. Deputy county attorney Sharon Huffman wrote she had been in contact with the heirs and their attorneys several times about the possibility of someone purchasing the property since the 2006 agreement, but none moved beyond an initial inquiry.
Superior Court judge Frank Jones ordered the county had been the sole owner of the 61-acre tract on August 18, 2022.
Five days later, Jones signed a consent order between the county and heirs to update the agreement. While sale proceeds would remain distributed in accordance with the 2006 agreement, the county, heirs, and the general public have the option to make an upset bid during the private sale process, documents indicate.
The land’s appraised property value currently is $9.2 million, according to New Hanover County records.
Last month, Scalise brought up to commissioners that he would like to see the acreage preserved.
“I’m not going to stop advocating for ‘Airlie 2.0’ until it becomes a reality,” Scalise wrote in a text to PCD Thursday.
After Scalise spoke out to commissioners about this desire, an influx of messages poured in from the community. One was from Deanne Knight, who wrote to the commissioners her concerns about overdevelopment.
“To drive in this city has become a nightmare due to the over building of these apartments and I believe has destroyed the uniqueness that Wilmington had,” she indicated. “I do think long term it is going to deter people from moving here, especially those with discretionary incomes as I know of several families that have already decided to go elsewhere.”
According to internal emails, Scalise responded to everyone: “Even though the County owns this land, it is currently under a court order to submit it to the City of Wilmington for rezoning. If rezoned by the City, the sold property’s proceeds would be split” between the county and heirs.
He also advocated for the county to buy them out to see through conservation.
Multiple complaints emailed from constituents also centered on Zillow data showing vacant apartment rentals citywide, estimated at more than 1,800 in October. The real estate marketplace firm lists 1,467 apartments available for rent as of Friday.
According to an October report by real estate and investment firm CBRE, Wilmington’s current vacancy rate of 13.1% is above the market’s historical average of 8.3%.
CBRE’s report found 1,088 of 1,134 units currently under construction in Wilmington are in the “4 & 5 star,” luxury category with an average rent of $1,671. Wilmington’s 12,596 4 & 5 star units have a vacancy rate of 16.9%.
Alternatively, the report states Wilmington has 2,582 units in the 1 & 2 star category with an average rent of $1,329; apartments in the two lower categories have much lower vacancy rate of 6.6%.
Betsy and Will Stanfield suggested a meet-in-the-middle compromise but advocated against the land being used for luxury apartments. Northwood Ravin lists itself as a “leading real estate management company, with luxurious communities across the United States.”
The company manages more than 10,000 apartments in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic and has constructed single family homes and apartments across Huntersville, Chapel Hill and Charlotte, as well as oversaw developments in Tampa, Florida, and Athens, Georgia.
“Request that the land be put in conservation and consider using some of the property for affordable housing,” the Stanfields wrote in an email to commissioners.
The same idea was advocated by David Magness.
Lynn Foster spoke out that Flossie Bryan’s original wishes should be honored.
“We absolutely need to preserve natural green spaces to help prevent flooding and we should care enough to protect wildlife habitat,” she said.
This was also concluded by Dustin Jones who called green spaces preservation a crucial aspect to “resilience and biodiversity.”
“These spaces help to prevent flooding, an issue Wilmington is no stranger to, and provide critical habitats for local wildlife,” he wrote. “By protecting this land from intensive development, the council would be making a forward-thinking choice that safeguards Wilmington’s environment and prepares us to better face the impacts of extreme weather events.”
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