Call it the fruit of his labor, literally. Formerly the family grape farm, which occasionally doubled as a treasure trove for hunting, the 110-acre tract that fronts Military Cutoff Road was never intended to be of any use except for grapes, pine brush and the occasional hog or deer that unluckily trampled through the property, Raiford Trask III said.

“It was a great place to hunt,” said Trask, president of Wilmingtonbased Trask Land Company. 

Then Wilmington decided to annex the property – part of the city’s steady land grab north and east, causing the family to reevaluate the land’s future use. 

“If it wasn’t annexed, it would have stayed a farm and been used for hunting,” Trask said. “But since it was annexed, and we couldn’t fire guns on the property because we were in the city limits, we decided to develop it.”

Now, the vines of grapes and rows of towering pines have given way to some of the most premier Class A office and retail space in the region.

Of the original 110 acres, which include the already built Renaissance South and The Forum centers, nine acres is being rebranded from Westfall Park to the Renaissance North development – a play on words that seems to be unfolding in the development across the road from the Mayfaire Town Center.

And as development and inquiries increase, Trask is planning to do more with less in the coming months.

“There’s not a whole lot of property left,” he said. “There is roughly 14 acres that is active and 10 more that we are discussing when to bring out.”

There are currently four projects pending or under construction within the development.

Castle Branch, which is located in The Pines section at the rear of the development, is expanding its headquarters by more than 50,000 square feet to accommodate 420 new workers by 2017.

Goodwill is slated to start construction on its new 12,000-squarefoot store located on roughly two acres fronting Sir Tyler Drive.

A proposed 120-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott is also looking to close on 2.1 acres fronting Military Cutoff Road, and 3.36 acres have been sold to an unnamed retailer that is looking to establish a store within the development, Trask said.

He said while Castle Branch’s announcement to expand has helped, many of the pending transactions were moving forward prior to the company’s March announcement to stay put in Wilmington and bring more jobs to the area.

“Castle Branch will have a very positive affect on Renaissance North,” Trask said. “It’s validation that the Landfall and Mayfaire submarkets are where the businesses are going to locate now and into the future.”

The Landfall and Mayfaire retail and office markets continue to enjoy some of the healthiest vacancy rates in the region.

CoStar Group – one of the largest real estate technology firms in the U.S. that also tracks commercial transactions throughout metro Wilmington – placed the submarket’s retail vacancy rate at 4.7 percent, according to the firm’s first quarter 2013 report.

The area’s office vacancy rates logged a low 1.2 percent vacancy rate – the second lowest in metro Wilmington, according to CoStar’s first quarter data.

Eventually, Renaissance North has the capacity to add up to 200,000 square feet of office space, but Trask said developing the office space would continue to be market driven.

“We’re not in any rush,” Trask said of developing more speculative office space in the development. “We’re going to stay on our typical conservative, market-driven schedule, which leaves us with no deadlines.”  

All of the land within the development has been zoned office and institutional, meaning Renaissance North can accommodate anything from schools to medical and banking offices.

But now that’s beginning to change. “We’re having a discussion on what type of retail will enhance the office use,” Trask said. “That’s going to require more discussion with the city because it’s going to mean more rezoning.”

In March, the city council granted Goodwill officials the green light to construct the city’s third Goodwill store in Renaissance North – a move that required rezoning the land from office and institutional to community business district.

And it may not be the firm’s last request.

Plans are in the works to rezone more land in the development to make way for the retailer that recently purchased 3.36 acres for a new operation.

Additional land fronting Military Cutoff Road, which according to N.C. Department of Transportation officials nets more than 38,000 vehicles a day, is also slated to come onto the market in the coming months – possibly allowing for further retail development in Renaissance North, depending on the user.

Trask said with the addition of a future hotel and Castle Branch’s hiring bonanza over the next four years, his firm is busy marketing to potential users. 

“We’re looking to find some restaurants,” he said. “That will be the next step.”

Trask said he’s encouraged by what’s occurring within the Landfall and Mayfaire office and retail submarkets, adding that the Offices at Mayfaire development, leasing for Mayfaire Town Center phase three and the multitude of new multifamily projects in the area would drive development in Renaissance North. 

“It’s an extremely solid location for office users and retailers in Wilmington,” Trask said. “I feel it’s going to continue because this is an outstanding location that has all the demographic trends going for it.”