With hopes of developing a gateway to downtown, the city of Wilmington is moving forward with the purchase of a vacant lot along 3rd Street.
The lot will become one of four pieces of land set aside for a development that s been dubbed the northern gateway project. The city aims to eventually build housing, parking, office and retail space, and a grocery store on the site, but COVID-19 has paused its progress for now.
The city s request for project proposals in 2019 yielded one submission a plan from East West Partners, the Chapel Hill-based development company that brought River Place apartments to Wilmington.
By Christina Haley O Neal, posted About 5 hours ago The city of Wilmington is looking to purchase property located in downtown s northern gateway, slated to become a part of a potential $90 million mixed-use development.
City council members will consider a resolution authorizing the $625,000 purchase of 0.39 acres at 1019 N. Third St., according to the city s agenda. The city would be taking over the purchase from East West Partners Management Company Inc. (EWP). The current property owner is Spiro Macris. If approved, upon assignment of the contract, the City will be obligated to purchase the property by paying the remaining balance of $524,000 and reimburse EWP $101,000 for their previous deposits and elected option period fees, stated the city s agenda. Together, these payments represent the total purchase price of $625,000. In addition to the purchase price, the City will be responsible for any and all closing costs associated with the conveyance.
EDITOR: “We had a team of consultants…on-site personnel, the general contractor, subcontractors, and the New Hanover County Inspections department looking after our interest and we felt like that was sufficient” lamented Lucien Ellison, senior managing partner of East West Partners for the developer of River Place. Obviously, this was not enough oversight for the $80 million mixed-use and defect-infested downtown building.
As the StarNews recently reported, this brand-new building suffers from mildew, poorly installed drywall, plumbing issues and negative air pressure which causes outside air to freely enter some units.
With apartment residents paying as much as $3,458 per month and condos purchases exceeding $1 million dollars, one would think that renters and owners would expect some degree of quality to their building’s construction. Sadly, at River Place, such is not the case.
Construction hasn’t slowed for downtown Wilmington. To share updates on activity that’s happening and where projects stand, we talk this week with two of the players in the central business district, including Wilmington Downtown Inc.’s new leader. We re changing gears a little bit here at WDI, said Holly Childs, who started at the beginning of the year as the group s president and CEO. I think WDI is going to focus more on expanding our role to be very project-based and partnership-based. And we re going to look at how we support development throughout downtown whether it be residential or jobs focused.