A family-owned and operated artisan market planned for a historic property on South Third Street received approval from the city’s Historic Preservation Commission on Thursday night.

The commission voted unanimously to remove the 90-day stay of demolition for the development at 1222 S. Third St., on the condition that the developer donates the building’s historic components to Legacy Architectural Salvage or a similar organization for reuse.

Nicole Smith, an associate planner with the city's planning department, said Friday that the site plan for the project is still under review and still has to meet some code requirements before the city will release the project for construction.

The project, called the Bodega, is the first commercial development being undertaken by Ryan Horne, owner Seagate Holding Co. LLC in Wilmington, which bought the property in August.

Plans are to rehab the building, which is in the Wilmington National Register Historic District, keeping as much of the building's old brick-and-mortar façade as possible, Horne said Thursday. An additional 500 square feet are planned to be added to the building for a total of 1,000 square feet of light retail space.

Horne described the development as a corner-neighborhood artisan market, that will have fresh produce, take-and-go sandwiches and a craft bottle shop component. There are also plans to have an outdoor community area out back with string lights and picnic tables.

Horne plans to run the business with his wife and two children, he said. Horne's primary business is Seagate Wealth Management, where he is principal and managing director of the company. 

“We are looking to upfit and rehab that building with mainly all repurposed materials that we've collected throughout the state. So it's going to have some corrugated metal, some old doorframes with transoms: just kind of a nostalgic feel,” Horne said of the planned construction. “I’m trying to have as little new materials in there as possible, but everything repurposed and reclaimed, a lot of which we've gotten from Legacy Architectural Salvage.”

Horne hopes to open the Bodega late-spring, with a soft open, he said.

“We want to get the doors open, invite vendors to come in, redistribute their great products … But we’re not going to sell lottery tickets. There will be no convenience items. No junk food. It will be a nice artisan market,” Horne said of the business.

The commercial project is the first stage of what he has planned for the lot. Horne said he is also exploring an affordable housing option for the rest of the property, but talks about the project are still ongoing with the city.

Seagate Holding Co. is mainly focused on affordable housing, owning and renting out houses to at-risk and special needs populations, he said.