A well-known Raleigh-based restaurant group has placed the former downtown Wilmington Bank of America building under contract – signaling potential movement on a highly visible building that has sat empty for nearly four years.
LM Restaurants placed three-story office building at 155 N. Front St. under contract earlier this month, Mindy Stroupe, corporate communications manager for the company, said Thursday.
Keith D. Saieed, broker in charge of Wilmington-based K Sade Realty LLC, said his firm is listing the building.
LM Restaurants operates and owns a number of eateries throughout greater Wilmington. Those are: Carolina Ale House, Bluewater, Oceanic, Henry’s, Eddie Romanelli’s and Hops Supply Co.
The company also owns 22 other Carolina Ale Houses throughout the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida and Texas as well as other restaurants.
A closing date for the site has not been finalized.
Stroupe said LM Restaurant officials are still mulling ideas for the building.
“There are several ideas, but nothing is permanent,” Stroupe said. “Some things are still pending.”
The former Bank of America building was vacated in 2010 upon the completion the of the bank’s 48,000-square-foot facility at 319 N. Third St.
Since the bank operations moved, the site has long been called an eyesore – often bearing the scars of graffiti taggers and serving as storage for passing film crews.
But the site always had potential as a key infill development, according to a number of area brokers.
Being a block from the river, the area immediately surrounding the former Bank of America building is already grabbing the attention of investors.
Earlier this month, officials with Irvine, California-based Auction.com announced that a winning bidder could close on the Murchison Building – an 11-story, 61,000-square-foot building at 201 N. Front St. – in the next 30 to 45 days.
Wilmington city officials are also targeting a summer timeline to issue a request for proposals to redevelop the Water Street parking deck at 200 N. Water St.
A team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Government’s Development Finance Initiative developed a plan in February for the city-owned deck, calling for the site to be redeveloped into a mix of office, retail and residential uses.
