Officials took a step Monday toward the potential transformation of a prominent block in downtown Wilmington.

The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved appropriating funds to pay a team lead by Charlotte-based Benchmark Planning to study the possibility of attracting private investment while maintaining public services on a 3-acre site.

The block in question, bordered by Third, Chestnut, Second and Grace streets, includes the main branch of the New Hanover County Public Library, the library’s Story Park, an EMS facility, a 650-space parking deck, the former county register of deeds office and three surface lots.

“The county has been approached by members of the development community about this particular site and we have determined that pieces of this site could potentially be underutilized,” explained Jennifer Rigby, strategy and policy coordinator for New Hanover County, at Monday morning’s commissioners meeting.

Because it is county-owned, the block currently does not generate any tax revenue, she said.

Rigby and Ed Wolverton, president and CEO of Wilmington Downtown Inc., said the impetus for Project Grace, as the potential redevelopment was dubbed by county staff, has also been ongoing growth in downtown Wilmington, where new housing, hotels and office space have been in the works at an increasing rate over the past few years.

“Downtown is a very dynamic place right now and a major economic development engine for our community,” Wolverton, whose organization prepared the request for qualifications for the feasibility study, told commissioners Monday.

Wolverton said WDI worked with a task force to narrow down the candidates from 12 to three before selecting Benchmark Planning as the final candidate for commissioners to consider.

Benchmark Planning will be paid $47,750 out of the county’s general fund, through a line item for unspecified economic development projects, to produce a feasibility study that includes a market analysis, site analysis and potential investor recruitment. The Benchmark team includes design consulting firm Kimley Horn Associates and architectural firm Moser Mayer Phoenix.  

Dan Douglas, an urban designer with Benchmark who will serve as the project manager for the feasibility study, spoke briefly to commissioners Monday, saying the team's goals will include looking at what specific advantages the site might have for potential developers and investors, an analysis of the condition of the existing buildings, taking into account the future plans of the library and EMS facility, and the fiscal impact of alternative uses, with an ultimate goal being to seek the “highest and best use” possible.

That use could include reconfiguring the site to add residential or commercial space, increasing the city’s tax base and adding jobs.

Officials reiterated that library services will remain in downtown Wilmington, although potentially in a different form.

“The existing library structure is 101,000 square feet. It was originally built to serve as a department store and was used as such for a number of years,” Rigby said. “New Hanover County has an excellent track record of repurposing vacant and underused buildings, and this old department store is an example of how New Hanover County repurposed a vacant department store into a main library.”

But the ways people use libraries have changed over the years, explained Rigby and Harry Tuchmayer, library director. Newer trends in libraries emphasize smaller, community-based branches – 30,000 to 40,000 square feet – rather than large, centralized facilities, Rigby said.

The feasibility study for the potential redevelopment is expected to be complete by June 30, officials said Monday.