Expected to open next year, a new Chick-fil-A is coming to Wilmington, to be built on an outparcel of a Porters Neck shopping center.

Chick-fil-A has signed a ground lease for a site in front of the Lowe's Home Improvement, next to Porters Neck Center at 8209 Market St., said Dean Scarafoni, president and founder of the firm that owns the outparcel and the center, Live Oak Development Company.

He said people in the area have been requesting a nearby Chick-fil-A.

"It’s a premiuim name, and we’re excited to have them," said Scarafoni, who anticipates breaking ground on the eatery this summer.

The closest existing Chick-fil-A to the Porters Neck site is at Mayfaire Community Center.

"We are always evaluating potential new locations in the hopes of serving existing and new customers great food with remarkable service. It has been a longtime goal of ours to serve communities in the Wilmington area, and we can at this time confirm our newest location will open in late summer of 2018 in Wilmington," said Brenda Morrow, manager of external communications for Chick-fil-A Inc., in an email Tuesday.