Without a zoning designation, the city of Wilmington would have very little say in what The Galleria property on Wrightsville Avenue becomes, planners say.

With a deadline of Aug. 30 to label the 12.6 acres involved, the city’s planning staff recommended an initial zoning designation of urban mixed-use, or UMX, which the planning commission approved unanimously Aug. 6.

“We felt that the UMX district would provide the best opportunity for whomever were to redevelop the site in the future,” said Jeff Walton, an associate planner with the city, at the planning panel’s meeting Wednesday night. That redevelopment could include a combination of retail and residential structures.

On Thursday, Walton said no project details have been made official yet for the property at 6800 Wrightsville Ave., which is owned by Charlotte-based State Street Companies.

Formerly part of the town of Wrightsville Beach, the shopping center has been vacant since 2012 and became part of Wilmington after the state signed off on the measure June 30 this year. From that date, the city has 60 days to zone it.

The city council is expected to consider whether to approve the UMX zone for the Wrightsville Avenue property, along with an applicable land development code amendment creating UMX standards outside the city’s 1945 corporate limits, at its meeting Aug. 19.

UMX is a very flexible district, said senior planner Christine Hughes, “sort of a more middle ground” between a suburban mixed-use designation and a commercial business district.
“We are always being approached by developers who want different options to redevelop property, and we have very little vacant property left in the city, so most of what we see … is going to be about redevelopment,” Hughes said.

No one from State Street Companies responded to a voicemail Thursday, left at a number listed on the firm’s website, seeking information on The Galleria’s future. Another of the firm’s projects in Wilmington is called Azalea Landing, according to the company's site. State Street developed The Village at Mayfaire, a 204-unit condo community, and The Reserve at Mayfaire, which has 264 luxury apartments.