The Wilmington City Council voted unanimously to exchange downtown properties with Cape Fear Community College at its meeting Tuesday evening.
By swapping the parcels, which assessors have shown to have roughly equivalent value, the city and the college would each have a larger expanse to develop. City spokeswoman Malissa Talbert said each entity owns a piece of property that is contiguous to property owned by the other.
The plan must now be approved by state officials, Roger Johnson, assistant to Mayor Bill Saffo, told the council Tuesday night.
No compensation would be involved in the transaction, Talbert said Tuesday afternoon.
The property that the city would acquire from CFCC is at 900 N. Second St., which Johnson said has an appraised value of $447,500. The land has a structure currently used by the college for storage and maintenance.
In exchange, the city would give CFCC a parcel at 320 N. Front St. The property, appraised at $507,500 according to Johnson, is currently leased to Bullock LLC for Cotton Exchange merchant parking.
In a cover letter dated Tuesday that accompanied the resolution and other materials, city manager Sterling Cheatham explained the thinking behind the land swap.
“Staff believes that combining the property owned by CFCC with the City’s three adjacent parcels is a proactive step to stimulate future economic development in the northern [Central Business District],” Cheatham wrote. “The land and any buildings can then be demolished or made available to public or private developers in the future.”
There are no immediate plans for development of the city-acquired parcel or adjoining land, Talbert said.
Johnson told the council that in its studies of the site, the city staff has found no barriers that would impede future development.
The council also awarded a $1.1 million contract to Lanier Construction Co. for Phase I improvements to Inland Greens. "Phase I consists of extensive drainage improvements in the area. Phase II, yet to be awarded, consists of renovation of nine holes of the par-3 golf course, landscaping, parking lot and building upgrades, a playground and site amenities," according to the city's website.
Another resolution that encourages the North Carolina Department of Transportation to proceed with steps related to the eventual completion of Independence Boulevard north to the MLK Parkway was continued Tuesday night until the council's Nov. 19 meeting.
The resolution, sent from Cheatham to the mayor and council members early Tuesday, encourages the N.C. Department of Transportation to complete a draft environmental impact statement for the proposed project and to select a “preferred corridor” for the extension.
In addition, the resolution encourages the state transportation department to develop a design that minimizes impacts to the surrounding community and to further evaluate a new corridor that would extend 17th Street to 23rd Street.
In an effort to promote additional north-south traffic capacity, the resolution also asks that the NCDOT “continue efforts to fund the Kerr Avenue widening and extension.”
A final point in the resolution seeks a feasibility study from the NCDOT, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and CSXT on laying a new CSXT rail line across the Cape Fear River to improve access to the Port of Wilmington and “eliminating or drastically reducing rail-vehicular conflicts” in the city.
