Eastern North Carolina Development News

[StevenW]

Yes, that is a good thing.

[randommichael]

There's development in Eastern NC???

[StevenW]

some.

[Raleigh-NC]

This article sort of ties with some renderings I posted earlier: Wilmington using PPD building to stir downtown pride.

Always nice to know that this area of DT Wilmington is finally getting some attention. Can't wait to see this vision materialize!!!

[TarheelsCubs]

Originally Posted by Raleigh-NC

This article sort of ties with some renderings I posted earlier: Wilmington using PPD building to stir downtown pride.

Always nice to know that this area of DT Wilmington is finally getting some attention. Can't wait to see this vision materialize!!!

Wow! 2000 workers!? This is great to see. This part of Wilmington is about to explode!

[g-man430]

It's nice to see this coming to Wilmington, Delaware.

[Raleigh-NC]

I assume you were on drugs when you wrote that I assume you know that we are discussing Wilmington, NC

[g-man430]

Quit hogging it all.

Shrek: Ogres are like onions.
Donkey: They stink?
Shrek: Yes. No.
Donkey: Oh, they make you cry.
Shrek: No.
Donkey: Oh, you leave em out in the sun, they get all brown, start sproutin' little white hairs.
Shrek: NO. Layers. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. Onions have layers. You get it? We both have layers.
[sighs]
Donkey: Oh, you both have layers. Oh. You know, not everybody like onions.

[Raleigh-NC]

Or, you can say "Leave something for the squirrels"

[Prosciutto]

How ambitious a plan should Carolina Beach adopt for the Boardwalk?

By Chris Mazzolini
Staff Writer
chris.mazzolini@starnewsonline.com

Carolina Beach | Plans for the Carolina Beach Boardwalk stunned April McMunn so much that she had to walk out of a January meeting to compose herself.

She needed a minute alone after seeing that her building at 8 Pavilion Ave. was gone.

In fact, all of the buildings along the town's historic but faded Boardwalk would be replaced by open space or new buildings, according to the options presented in the town's proposed master development plan.

"I've been trying to keep units occupied and keep the roof from leaking," said McMunn, a member of the master plan's steering committee, after returning to the room. "I feel like I should have shut down and torn down a while ago."

While the plan, titled "Recapturing the Spirit," calls for improvements from town hall down to the lake, its designs for the Boardwalk are the most controversial.

The town council is scheduled to consider the master plan March 11. While the town council could endorse the plan at that time, it probably will postpone the decision to gather more information, said Town Manager Tim Owens.

Boardwalk property and business owners are divided by the plan. Some are excited that the town is creating a vision for the Boardwalk, while others want to see the historic area restored so history can be preserved.

Planning for the future
Town officials are quick to say that, if approved, the master plan can't happen overnight. It's not even a concrete plan, officials say, but a guiding vision for the town, and the latest version is only preliminary.

The town spent $122,000 to hire New York-based Peter J. Smith & Company Inc., to design the plan, and officials and residents say the town needs a vision to clean up the town and attract new businesses and visitors.

In summary, the master plan is designed to unify the central business district by linking the town's key areas - town hall, the marina, the Boardwalk and the lake - with landscaped streets, trails and walkways.

The plan identifies the marina to the north and the lake to the south as the town's anchors and proposes to enhance those areas and connect them with a beachfront boardwalk. It calls for redeveloping the marina north of the Boardwalk as a harborfront village that integrates retail and entertainment with a working waterfront. On the southern end of downtown, plans call for construction of an environmental education center at the lake that could become a companion to the N.C. Aquarium at Fort Fisher, with museum space and environmental programs.

On the western side of town, the community center would be expanded to include senior and youth centers, a library and public meeting rooms. In addition a transportation center for buses and cabs could help link Pleasure Island with Wilmington and the airport.

In the middle of it all is the Boardwalk, which planners and town officials acknowledge has limited potential as it exists today.

Because the buildings are built on the ground, they aren't in compliance with coastal building regulations, which call for buildings in that area to be elevated 16 feet. That limits how much repair work owners can do.

The plan presents two alternatives to develop the Boardwalk, with an emphasis on recapturing "the spirit, that energy, that once defined the Boardwalk area." Both plans include large amounts of public open space backed up by high-rise buildings ranging from nine to 12 stories.

While building height has long been a concern of town residents, the plan's developer says the higher buildings were needed to create the same amount of potential commercial space as the Boardwalk has today. Plans call for buildings to be designed with a "wedding cake effect" - wider at the bottom than at the top - to prevent them from blocking views of the ocean.

The plan suggests three options to actually get the work down: Recruit a master developer to oversee the redevelopment, amending the zoning ordinance to follow the master plan's vision into law and setting up a land trust that would allow developers to bid for the development rights of Boardwalk properties.

The quickest plan would be the master developer, and that's the route many town leaders and property owners support.

"The last thing Carolina Beach needs is a plan that just sits on the shelf," said Mayor Joel Macon. "What I'm looking for is a little bit more of how do we put this plan into action and make it happen."

'Pie in the sky?'
Whether Boardwalk property and business owners want to make it happen is another matter.

Some don't want to see any redevelopment of the Boardwalk.

"There's a lot of history there," said Brenda Armes, owner of Olde Salty restaurant. "Anybody who gets rid of a boardwalk that has that much history is crazy. Those buildings have withstood every hurricane we've had. There's no reason to tear them down."

Others, however, want to see the Boardwalk redeveloped. Garland Garrett, a partner in Boardwalk Landing LLC, a Raleigh-based development group that owns the arcade and bumper cars building, said the plan offers the best chance for property owners to join together and restore the area.

"The town has tried to put property owners together, and it has never worked," Garrett said during a January public meeting. "This is the best thing that has happened. I like the concept. I think we can sit down as a group of property owners and hash it out."

But probably the most widely shared opinion among business and property owners is that the plans look good but are unrealistic. Adam Higgins, a co-owner of Black Horn Bar & Kitchen and the Boardwalk Arcade, said they were "a little bit pie in the sky."

"I think it's a wonderful concept if you could execute it properly," said LeAnn Pierce, a property owner who runs Sandbarz Surf & Skate. "I just don't know if that's a concept you can get everyone on the same page with. I don't know how workable it is. And that's what we need to find out."

After a few weeks of talking with people and thinking about the master plan, McMunn said she is not against the proposal. She simply needs more information before making any decisions.

"As long as they can figure out how we can come together and achieve something, then that's fine," she said. "But right now I have no idea how that would come about. I can't really say if I would be for it or against it."

Bobby Nivens, owner of Britt's Donuts since 1974, said the master plan is a long-term situation. He said he doesn't oppose the plan, but can't imagine the Boardwalk being anything other than what it is now.

"Preferably, I'd rather see it cleaned up and fixed up and some of the history preserved," he said. "I guess I'm just too sentimental."

And while that could happen, it's not likely. The town could apply to designate the Boardwalk as a historic district, which would allow property owners to demolish the buildings and rebuild them to the same specifications.

But even that is considered a short-term, "remedial action" in the plan.

"The town, in general, I think is looking for bigger and better things in the total redevelopment of that area," said Owens, the town manager.

Owens said no property owners will be forced to go along with the plan. While he said he has received mixed reaction from property and business owners, many more decisions need to be made before property owners can decide if they are on board.

"All that stuff will have to just shake out," he said. "Hopefully, everybody will agree that it's in the best interest of the town. That's our hope."

Eventually, the Boardwalk will be redeveloped one way or another, said Peter Smith, the consultant hired to create the master plan. The best thing the town can do is commit to a vision that will prevent undesirable redevelopment in the future.

"In the long term, if the community doesn't do anything, there will be a wall along the beach front," he said.

Chris Mazzolini: 343-2223

chris.mazzolini@starnewsonline.com

Boardwalk options
Carolina Beach’s proposed master development plan lays out two alternatives for redeveloping the Boardwalk.

Development alternatives
OPTION 1: Town Square Concept

* Develop a public town square with an outdoor amphitheater along the dunes. That square would be surrounded and backed up by high-rise buildings reaching about nine stories tall.

* Temporary retail kiosks on the ground floor beneath buildings.

* An observation tower to give distant views over the town and the ocean.

* Develop commercial space on second floor of buildings and connect them with an elevated walkway.

* Parking on ground floor beneath buildings.

OPTION 2: Pier Park Concept

* Build a fishing pier extending out from the Boardwalk with roughly 12-story buildings behind it. The pier would continue onto the land and become the centerpiece of a public park.

* Build retail pavilions on the pier.

* Connect pier with beach boardwalk and Canal Drive.

* Parking beneath buildings and in on-site parking garages.

How does it happen?
OPTION 1: Master Developer

* Boardwalk property owners would form a consortium and ‘parcelize’ their properties to make them into one marketable parcel.

* The town would send out requests for proposals seeking a master developer, based on the concepts in the master plan.

* The Boardwalk owners could either remain a silent partner for the developer by accepting a percentage of future revenue for the site or sell their land to the developer.

* The town could offer development incentives such as building height bonuses and tax breaks.

OPTION 2: ‘Planned Unit Development’

* The town would encode the master plan’s design standards and vision for open space into the town’s zoning ordinance.

* This scenario would allow incremental development with multiple developers.

* Would not require a commitment from property owners.

* The town could offer development incentives.

OPTION 3: Purchase/Transfer Development Rights

* Willing property owners would sell their development rights to a land trust established by the town.

* Developers could buy development rights from the land trust.

* Each development would have dedicated open space.

* Owners would not be required to sell the entire value of their property and would not be required to vacate their property without a pending development proposal.

Source: Carolina Beach draft master development plan

http://www.starnewsonline.com/articl...NEWS/802250346

[Raleigh-NC]

Now, this will take me a long time to read Thanks for resurrecting this thread.

[CLTNC]

I hear that a lot of people from the north that are not happy with Florida, are moving to up to New Bern.

[Raleigh-NC]

That will be a good move, if you ask me. BTW, New Bern has a cute downtown area, if I remember well.

[Prosciutto]

Originally Posted by CLTNC

I hear that a lot of people from the north that are not happy with Florida, are moving to up to New Bern.

There are so many of these people now that the media calls them "half-backs" because they move half-way back to where they came from.

[Greenville-NC]

Yeah, we are getting our fair share of carpetbaggers in Greenville too. I met a couple from Cleveland who seemed to be very friendly (unlike the experiences i have shared with others in the past)

[Raleigh-NC]

I would love to see a [healthy] population growth in Eastern NC, along with a few corporate investments.

[StevenW]

It will, one day, I'm sure.

[randommichael]

Originally Posted by CLTNC

I hear that a lot of people from the north that are not happy with Florida, are moving to up to New Bern.

I know a ton of people who live in Florida who are moving up to the NC area. For starters, insurance rates are crazy here. I know someone who has a 2,500 sq ft house that lives 7 miles inland and their property insurance is $8500 a year...then their property tax is $14,000 a year. That's nuts. If Florida doesn't get this under control, people are going to be moving out in droves. Look for Floridians to start moving north. Several of the ones I know are moving to the mountains, but a few are moving to the coastal areas.

[TarheelsCubs]

This may sound crazy, but I love eastern NC just the way it is. I do like the growth New Bern is seeing right now. Most of it is downtown....which I like to see. The new Bridgeton project is really going to be huge! 2000 new jobs in just one project! I hope it does not fall through like the one directly across the river did.

Don't know if these projects are talked about here. I will try to find some links later. But lots of condos are either about to begin construction....or already under construction downtown.

[snookums]

Originally Posted by Greenville-NC

Yeah, we are getting our fair share of carpetbaggers in Greenville too. I met a couple from Cleveland who seemed to be very friendly (unlike the experiences i have shared with others in the past)

Yup, there are carpetbaggers all over NC now. Some are great; some are not so great. Good thing is many that I have met seemed to be pretty nice, respectful people.

I also love eastern NC and prefer it overall to the rest of the state.

Keep us updated on whats happening there!