Wilmington officials confirmed on Friday that the city did not receive any upset bids for a downtown site being looked at for a grocery store.

The Wilmington City Council voted unanimously at its meeting Dec. 3 to authorize the upset bid process for surplus city-owned properties at 305, 315 and 319 Chestnut St. after receiving a $1.7 million bid for the site.

Submitted by Cape Fear Holdings LLC, the bid includes a provision that “would restrict the principal use of the property to a retail grocery supermarket for a duration of at least 10 years,” according to the Dec. 3 city council agenda.

The deadline to submit an upset bid for the properties was Thursday at 3 p.m. Because no other qualifying offers were received during the upset bid period, the site will move under contract with Cape Fear Holdings LLC, according to a presentation from Aubrey Parsley, Wilmington’s director of economic development.

Former office buildings are currently under demolition on the 1.65-acre site, which is zoned as part of the city’s Central Business District. The submitted bid includes a 365-day closing period, which allows for permitting and approval for use, Parsley said.

Proceeds from the upset bid will be used to allow the city to pay back a portion of the variable interest and taxable debt raised to support the acquisition of its new downtown campus at 929 N. Front St.

According to North Carolina Secretary of State records, Cape Fear Holdings LLC, the bidding entity, was formed in September and is registered to Calvin Wells at the Wilmington address of Cape Fear Commercial and Cape Fear Development.

City documents do not name the grocery store proposed for the downtown site. Cape Fear Development, however, lists on its website several Publix grocery stores among its projects in the Wilmington area, including the Publix at Pine Valley and Carolina Beach’s Publix Commons at Federal Point, and in other North Carolina cities, including in Kill Devil Hills, Wendell and High Point.