On a recent tour attended by hundreds of potential buyers at a master-planned development underway in Wilmington, some of the attendees were from Brunswick County.

During the tour of RiverLights, where a total of 2,500 homes could be built over the next several years, 400 participants registered their interest in the community’s age-qualified neighborhood, under construction by Del Webb Wilmington, whose parent company is publicly traded Pulte Group (NYSE: PHM).

Six model homes are in the works by Del Webb Wilmington, and the age-qualified neighborhood could eventually hold more than 540 homes at the end of about six years, depending on the market, said Charlie Tipton, Coastal Carolinas division president of Pulte Group.

The developers of Del Webb Wilmington in RiverLights, and another master-planned community in Pender County called Blake Farm, will be adding to the inventory of homes expected to appeal to retirees who are flocking to the coast or already live here. At the same time, they’re working to distinguish their projects from the already-established and well-known similar developments in Brunswick County.

“I think what makes this project unique is location,” Tipton said of Del Webb Wilmington in Riverlights, off River Road. “We know that buyers want to be close to activities – retirees today are very active in their lifestyles – so the proximity to the Cape Fear River, to downtown, to the beaches, all of those things make RiverLights and Del Webb Wilmington a very unique attraction.” 

Tipton pointed to some of the RiverLights amenities that provide access to the river and a man-made lake as particular examples, including the Marina Village and the Lake House.  

“The competition doesn’t have all that with this great location,” Tipton said.   

Buyers of the Del Webb Wilmington houses must be 55 or older, not all necessarily retirees but some taking advantage of low interest rates to be ahead of the game.

In combination with RiverLights developer Newland Communities, the grand opening for the Del Webb Wilmington neighborhood is expected to take place in early December, with a sales effort scheduled to start later this month. 

To get the word out, Pulte and Newland have a presence at shows in the Northeast and elsewhere that are often aimed at retirees or those in the age group. There’s also Pulte’s national marketing efforts via a TV advertising campaign and local efforts that include billboards, signs around town and print ads. 

Tipton said those who attended the recent tour were already very knowledgeable about the age-qualified section and the rest of RiverLights, people who have been keeping track of the community’s progress and reading about it online.

“I was amazed at the excitement for the community in this location,” he said.

Brunswick and Pender counties represent different markets, said Raiford Trask III, president of Trask Land Co.

Trask’s firm is developing Blake Farm, a master-planned, mixed-use community on 1,300 acres in Pender County that will include housing and amenities aimed at buyers who are 55 and older. 

One of the differences between the Scotts Hill area where Blake Farm is located and surrounding areas is that there aren’t many options for retirees and seniors.

In Brunswick County, for example, “there’s more critical mass there. Critical mass is good, but  … being the first project open in a new, highly desirable area is good for us,” Trask said.

Trask Land Co. and the firm’s partner in the senior portion of Blake Farm, Cary-based Peak Resources, has been inviting local residents, mainly those who are 55 years old and older, to participate in a series of focus groups. The first focus group meeting regarding the Blake Farm senior living community, Edisto at Blake Farm, was held in Scotts Hill on Aug. 24.

“We always want to learn as much as we can about our market, and it’s a good way for the market to get to know us also,” Trask said.

The first phase of Edisto will likely involve the construction of 120 independent living apartments in a luxury complex, he said. 

While numerous neighborhoods in the tri-county area are capturing buyers from the Northeast and other parts of the country, Trask said Blake Farm could also appeal to existing residents. 

“We think the Scotts Hill trade area sets itself up for more organic growth,” he said.

In the end, buyers want options, developers said. 

“We think it’s a positive thing that there are so many options in the area. That’s going to bring more people because there are so many opportunities for senior housing,” said Sara Humphrey, marketing manager for Trask Land Co.

Brunswick Forest’s director of sales and marketing, Jerry Helms, said something similar.

“My theory has always been that all boats float on a rising tide, and competition is good. It continues to encourage developers to be cutting-edge and reinvent themselves and to not rest on the past successes but really work to continue to be better and to provide a better product,” Helms said. “That being said, when you have multiple communities driving traffic, spending marketing dollars to drive traffic, everybody benefits from that. 

“Marketing dollars I spend will ultimately benefit RiverLights [for example]. It will generate more traffic from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, D.C. to come to the Cape Fear Region.”

Helms said he expects Brunswick Forest to welcome more than 350 families this year, “but we will see over 3,000 people through our door, so we’re obviously not the right fit for everyone …  Obviously, we want everyone to buy in our community, but at the end of the day, we are generating interest in southeastern North Carolina.”

And communities in Brunswick County have been adding options to their developments. For example, the first phase of a luxury apartment project called Headwaters Apartment Homes at Brunswick Forest is expected to be complete next year.

Jim Goodman, president of the Brunswick County Association of Realtors, said demand is high enough and the supply low enough that he doesn’t think there will be much
competition between new and existing developments that typically attract the retiree market.

“If you build good quality product,” he said, “people will buy it.”