The first client for Airlie Homes turned out to be a real estate agent, who ended up helping the fledgling company find land for its first development project.

The Realtor, Lisa Sanders, found a 1.4-acre tract in the 300 block of Beasley Road that belonged to the Ripley family.

Fast-forward to this year, and Airlie Homes founders Mike Santilli and Tyler Gunn are embarking on a three-lot project on the land called Ripley Oaks.

As land dwindles in the city of Wilmington and New Hanover County, small infill projects like Ripley Oaks are expected to become the norm.

Santilli and Gunn plan to put three 2,300- to 2,800-square-foot, coastal craftsman-style homes on the property, which is accented by large live oak trees the builders have incorporated into their site design.

They hope to start construction in the spring, either on a custom home or a spec house. Gunn and Santilli said they were lucky to find the property.

“Even though there’s construction in Leland and Pender County and Brunswick County, everybody still wants to be in central Wilmington, but there’s just no land unless you do creative small projects,” Santilli said.

Gunn added, “We’re excited about the infill aspect of the project, being able to create lots in New Hanover County in that central location.”

Cameron Moore, executive officer of the Wilmington-Cape Fear Home Builders Association, said the city of Wilmington’s Comprehensive Plan points to infill as a driving factor in the future.

“Currently developers are using infill development practices to make the most efficient use of available land,” the Comprehensive Plan’s Growth Factors report says. “A focus on inward and upward development will be necessary, at a higher built density to [accommodate] projected growth.”

A large percentage of parcels that were suitable for redevelopment and infill development, out of the 3,600 acres of buildable vacant land left in the city at the time of the study, were less than 2 acres in size, the Growth Factors report says.

Upcoming rewrites of Wilmington and New Hanover County development ordinances are expected to take the need for infill development and redevelopment projects as ways to provide more housing into account, Moore said.

That could be good news for young builders and companies like Airlie Homes. Santilli and Gunn graduated from East Carolina University’s Construction Management Program.

Together they have more than 17 years in the industry having worked for large corporations as well as small local businesses.

Last year, Airlie Homes closed on three houses with another five under construction, and the company hopes to close on 10 in 2017, Gunn said.

“I think from a financing standpoint, a capitalization standpoint, certainly there’s opportunities for smaller builders,” Moore said, while regional builders and larger builders may still be looking for volume.

“It’s going to come down to price, does it make sense? If it makes sense, nine times out of 10 most builders and developers will push through,” he said. “It has to make sense.”

In some ways, smaller developments can be harder, said D. Logan, president of Logan Homes. Among his company’s new-home development is Cottage Grove, a 27-lot subdivision off Middle Sound Loop Road in Ogden.

“They’re harder because you have to go through the same entitlement process,” Logan said. “It’s just as long. It’s just as much trouble to do a 20- or 30-lot subdivision as it is to do a 100-lot subdivision.

“You’ve still got all the entryway costs and costs of getting water and sewer to the project. It’s a lot of trouble for a few lots, but if you can buy the land at the right price, it’s worth the time.”

Gunn and Santilli counted it as a triumph when they recently got the OK to begin site work.

“Basically all spring and summer, we’ve been working with engineers and meeting with city officials just to get the approvals, and so last week was big for us,” Gunn said Jan. 17.

The homes are expected to start in the $300,000s in terms of price, said Gunn and Santilli, who describe Ripley Oaks as a “boutique” infill project.

“There’s a lot shortage everyone’s aware of in New Hanover County and the city of Wilmington. To be able to create three lots out of one tract of land is basically what we think people are going to like about it,” Gunn said.

Infill developments can help bring homes closer to where planners and residents want them to be.

“It’s always, they say, healthier for the environment and for a city to be more centralized as opposed to being sprawling,” Santilli said.

In Cottage Grove, the one-story patio homes are in the $375,000 to $425,000 price range.

They have been appealing mostly to retired couples or young couples, Logan said, and as of March 1, he only had three lots left in the neighborhood.

Although it was on the small side for a Logan Homes development, Logan said, “It was a good piece of land. The location was dynamic. There was nothing in the area that was like that. A lot of people want a smaller subdivision with no dues or very low dues. … The quality of the land was fantastic. I knew it would be a home run, and it was.”

Logan pointed out that another factor that has appealed to buyers is that Cottage Grove is a short distance from a new shopping center, which will be anchored by a Publix grocery store, under construction at Middle Sound Loop Road and Market Street in Wilmington.

“It’s just hard to find land that’s inside the city limits anymore in a good location, so we’re going to start seeing a lot more infill projects as time moves on,” he said. “These 5- and 10-acre tracts are becoming more and more valuable.”

In Brunswick County and Pender County you still have a pretty good open slate,” Moore said of land availability, adding that “water and sewer will be driving factor” when it comes to the potential for more development outside of areas that already have the infrastructure in place.