More retail space could soon be on the way to a Leland shopping center.
Weingarten Realty, a company that owns, manages and develops neighborhood and community shopping centers, plans to construct two multi-tenant retail buildings of 9,375 square feet each on outparcels in front of Harris Teeter-anchored Waterford Village. The firm hopes to complete the new space by the end of the first quarter next year, a company official said this week.
“We feel there was demand for additional retail [in the area] and it was a great way to put that land to use,” said Lee Brody, senior vice president and director of Weingarten Realty’s Mid-Atlantic Region.
The land fronts U.S. 17 and is located between a Corning Credit Union location and a Smithfield's Chicken 'N Bar-B-Q restaurant at Waterford Village.
Weingarten Realty is in the process of revising plans that had been submitted to the town of Leland’s Technical Review Committee, making some small changes such as adding a drive-through on an end cap and redesigning where the garbage receptacles will be, Brody said.
Weingarten’s plan is one of the items Gary Vidmar, the town of Leland’s economic and community development director, included in a report on economic development news for Leland’s mayor and Town Council.
“I think just in general, Leland’s always interested in attracting more retail and particularly upscale restaurants. That’s just a common theme I think as we talk to developers for all of our commercial projects – fulfilling the desire of our residents to see more retail in this area so they don’t have to continue traveling over to Wilmington to fulfill their shopping needs and their dining needs,” Vidmar said Thursday.
No tenants have been announced for the planned buildings. Town officials hope such projects will increasingly include office space, Vidmar said.
"In addition to retail and restaurants, we're trying to assist our developers to attract office users as well," he said.
Waterford Village is a commercial component of Waterford of the Carolinas, a 575-acre master planned development.
In addition to the Waterford Village buildings, other items in the Leland economic development report related to commercial and residential news include:
HARRINGTON VILLAGE: The town and the developer have been waiting for the approval of the Traffic Impact Analysis by the N.C. Department of Transportation for Harrington Village, a 19-acre project at 214 Village Road expected to include 300 luxury apartments in 13 buildings and about 30,000 square feet of commercial space. The town plans to re-align Northgate Drive with Baldwin Drive in conjunction with the development and create a signalized intersection which will benefit the project, according to the report.
OCEAN GATE PLAZA DRIVE: The town’s staff has met with a new developer who plans to purchase about 63 acres between Ocean Gate Plaza Drive and Ploof Road and craft a new master plan. The project is expected to include a mix of offices, retail, restaurants, entertainment and civic areas, with an Aldi discount grocery store as the first new business to be built in the development. The Aldi will be located at the corner of Ploof Road and U.S. 17, and construction on the grocery store is expected to start sometime this summer.
NEW HOTEL: Construction is expected to start before the end of the year on a Fairfield Inn by Marriott on Westgate Boulevard behind an existing Best Western Plus hotel.
APARTMENTS IN BRUNSWICK FOREST COMMERCIAL AREA: Wilmington-based GHK Cape Fear Development and Brunswick Forest in Leland have announced plans to build a 360-unit luxury apartment community on land south of the commercial/retail area in front of the master planned development.
CAR WASH AT WATERFORD: Construction is under way for Carolina Shores Car Wash in Waterford Village between Corning Credit Union and Goodwill, with an expected opening in July.
