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1 MORE PARTNERSHIP POTENTIAL
ommercial real estate activity in the region in 2019 included additional projects for some developers and the potential for new endeavors for others. Potential initiatives include at least one other publicprivate partnership like the downtown mixed-use project River Place, which the city of Wilmington is involved in with East West Partners of Chapel Hill. Experts aren’t sure when an official slowdown might occur, but many local brokers remained optimistic in the first quarter of 2020. BY CECE NUNN
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The potential redevelopment of the New Hanover County Government Center moved forward in January as county officials voted to proceed with a development team made up of Wilmington-based GHK Cape Fear Development and FD Stonewater, which was the county staff’s recommendation. The project could turn the government center, which includes 15 acres at 230 Government Center Drive off South College Road in Wilmington, into a mixed-use development that includes government offices and private commercial and residential space. Local officials have been bringing public-private partnerships (also referred to as P3s) to the table as potential solutions to public needs that could also help meet the market’s demands. P3s have advantages and disadvantages, but one of the benefits in the case of the county government center, according to County Manager Chris Coudriet, is the potential to end up with a better facility for fewer county dollars. If negotiations aren’t successful with the Cape Fear team, county officials could move on to the other firm that was vying for the redevelopment project, Chicago-based Vermilion Campbell.
M A G A Z I N E
2 ADDITIONAL PROJECTS For the development firm working with the city of Wilmington on the 13-story redevelopment project River Place in downtown Wilmington, more local work is on its agenda. The company, Chapel Hill-based East West Partners, announced in February that a historical building undergoing renovation in downtown Wilmington is slated to open as coworking space from Dallas-based Common Desk. The Gaylord Building at 226 N. Front St. is more than 100 years old and has been vacant since it was condemned in the late 1980s. East West bought the Gaylord Building for $975,000 in 2018 with the intent of turning it into office space. “We will be restoring portions of the Gaylord’s original historic Front Street facade, while introducing a thoroughly contemporary interior design to accommodate the flexible and hospitable office environment today’s entrepreneurs prefer,” Lucien Ellison, senior managing partner with East West Partners, said in February. East West is also looking at a much bigger project, another publicprivate partnership with the city that could turn Wilmington’s northern gateway into a $90 million, mixed-use development.
