Following last week’s announcement that a museum dedicated to Michael Jordan and his family won’t be moving forward as part of Project Grace, developers are reshuffling their plans for the downtown Wilmington site.

Without the museum in the mix, Cape Fear Development, New Hanover County’s private development partner on Project Grace, is working to incorporate the space into its planning and design process for the block’s southern parcel, according to Mike Brown, vice president of Cape Fear Development. 

In December, New Hanover County leaders and the Jordan family began formally to explore plans for the museum as part of Project Grace – a public-private redevelopment of the county-owned downtown block bordered by Third, Chestnut, Second and Grace streets. 

New Hanover County announced last Friday that despite “collaborative and productive” conversations, the Jordan family had decided “not to pursue a Michael Jordan Family Museum at this time.” 

Although never finalized, the museum proposal was explored in concept, Brown wrote in an email to the Business Journal. It was expected to occupy about 30,000 square feet – taking up about 25% of the south parcel – along its eastern edge, closest to Third Street.
 
If museum plans had moved ahead, Cape Fear Development would have developed the rest of the parcel – the current site of the downtown library branch – with “complementary commercial, hospitality and residential uses,” according to Brown.

Cape Fear Development and New Hanover County had even “proactively agreed” to modify their development agreement, releasing the area slated for the museum from Cape Fear Development’s purchase obligation, Brown wrote in the email.

With museum plans no longer in play, Cape Fear Development will stick to the original agreement with plans to purchase and develop the entire south parcel following the completion of the redeveloped library and Cape Fear Museum on the north end of the block.

New Hanover County and Cape Fear Development entered into an agreement that established the terms of their partnership and the development of Project Grace in May 2023. 

Per the agreement, New Hanover County will sell the parcel on the southern side of the block to Cape Fear Development for $3.5 million or the agreed-upon appraised value once the new library and Cape Fear Museum facilities are complete.

The library and museum project broke ground in February and "is making significant progress,” county officials stated last week. Currently, deep earth foundations are being installed to support stair and elevator towers, and soon crews will start on the exterior walls. 

The new library is slated to open to the public in late summer or early fall of 2025 with the Cape Fear Museum expected to open in 2026. 

Cape Fear Development will then “provide a private mixed-use development” on the south parcel that costs either more than $30 million or the amount equal to 25% of the cost of construction and renovation of all three parcels – whichever amount is larger, per the agreement.

The private development is set to start within two years of Cape Fear Development’s acquisition of the southern parcel and at least 5% of the development's multifamily units must be set aside for workforce housing for at least 10 years.

The details of that private development are still being worked out – now with the additional space once slated for the Jordan family museum.

“Now that the museum is no longer part of the plan, we are reassessing and incorporating that space into our planning and design efforts for the southern parcel,” Brown wrote. “Uses and square footage to replace the museum building will be determined as plans are updated and further developed.”

“We are actively working on the design for this aspect of the project,” he added, “and are enthusiastic about our ongoing partnership with [New Hanover County] to bring a transformative project to this significant downtown block.”