One of the largest retail developments since the construction of Mayfaire Town Center could soon be headed for the Porters Neck area of New Hanover County.

David E. Harner, vice president and senior real estate manager for Paramount Development Corp. that’s overseeing the project, said his team has requested to rezone a 44-acre tract for a new shopping center.

The future 230,000- to 250,000-square-foot development is proposed for the 8100 block of Market Street, just south of the Porters Neck road intersection.

Currently, the property includes split zoning. About 15 acres at the rear of the property near Loosestrife Court is zoned residential and is owned by the YMCA, Harner said. And the remaining nearly 29 acres, which fronts Market Street, is zoned commercial and owned by New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Harner said.

Harner said his company was working to rezone the 15.23-acre parcel to commercial.

He said Paramount has placed the properties under contract with the two groups, but the purchase depends on the result of the rezoning request.

The entire tract is identified as a suburban commercial center in the Market Street Corridor study, which county commissioners approved in 2011. 

A public meeting about the project is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 27 at the New Hanover County Northeast Regional Library, 1241 Military Cutoff Road.

Paramount Development Corp., a developer and brokerage firm that constructs and leases single-tenant freestanding sites and anchored retail shopping centers throughout the Southeast, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, has studied the property for about 18 months, company officials said.

The Myrtle Beach-based firm is no stranger to area, having completed retail projects in Oak Island and Calabash.

While no anchor tenants have officially signed on to the development, Harner said the planned retail power center was gaining interest from national and local retailers. 

“We look forward to working with the county and residents to bring this project forward,” Harner said. “We feel it’s going to be a great addition to the area.” 

Porters Neck continues to grow more attractive to local and regional developers given the surge of new single-family and multifamily development, increasing household incomes and available land for new growth.

It’s also one of the few areas in New Hanover County that does not have a major retail power center, which is typically anchored by a retailer that occupies more than 120,000 square feet.  

The area is currently served by two neighborhood shopping centers greater than 70,000 square feet – Oak Landing and Porters Neck shopping centers – along with a multitude of strip centers up and down the Market Street corridor.

If the project were approved, it would be the firm’s first and largest retail development in New Hanover County.