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ommercial real estate suffered some setbacks as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, but remains a significant player in the local market. Brokers and other industry professionals say some sectors are doing extremely well, despite COVID-19, and major projects in the form of public-private partnerships have been moving forward. BY CECE NUNN
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P3S MAKE HEADWAY
INDUSTRIAL STEAM
Just as completion neared this year for the 13-story mixed-use project River Place, a city public-private partnership (P3), New Hanover County was moving forward on two P3s. Construction was set to begin in March on the $120 million redevelopment of the county government center property off South College Road in Wilmington. That’s after the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners approved a revised development agreement related to the project’s financing. Developer Cape Fear Stonewater FD plans to build commercial and residential space, while also managing the construction of new county offices. In addition, county officials were expected as of press time to hold a public hearing March 15 on a proposed Memorandum of Understanding for a public-private partnership between the county and Wilmington-based Zimmer Development Co. The proposed $107 million Project Grace would transform a 3-acre, county-owned block in downtown Wilmington, bordered by Grace, Third, Chestnut and Second streets, into a modern mixed-use project with public and private facilities.
M A G A Z I N E
Commercial real estate brokers say one of the hottest sectors is the industrial market. The flex space vacancy percentage “is in the low single digits, and we are seeing tremendous demand from larger industrial users,” said Brian Eckel, GHK Cape Fear Development partner and co-founder of Wilmington-based commercial real estate firm Cape Fear Commercial. “I am extremely confident we will see a continued push for last-mile logistics facilities as e-commerce continues to surge.” A development team is working on an $8.5 million industrial building in the International Logistics Park of North Carolina, one of two megasites near the Brunswick and Columbus county line. The International Commerce Center, a spec building, will be the first development in the International Logistics Park, and could be delivered as soon as the second quarter of 2021. (To find out more about the industrial market, read a column by local economic development leader Bill Early on page 10; to read a profile of Cape Fear Commercial, see page 38.)
