The state of North Carolina assumed ownership of Serenity Point, or The Point, an area of nearly 100 undeveloped acres on Topsail Island’s southern end, earlier this month. 

Last year, the N.C. Coastal Land Trust, a land preservation organization, closed on the Pender County property in a $7.5 million deal. Community members had pushed to save the property from development in 2022 after a potential buyer wanted to build a residential compound with a private dock on part of the site.

The recent transfer in ownership took place on April 15, according to deed records. The Coastal Land Trust had always planned to transfer the property to the state for permanent conservation and management, the Coastal Land Trust’s associate director, Jesica Blake, said on Tuesday.

“We are partners with the state on a lot of different projects … and so it was just a natural process for us where we've identified the right owner,” Blake said. “As a small nonprofit, we have to always be cognizant of our capacity, and the state just had more capacity to manage this property.”

Under state ownership, the Division of Coastal Management, a part of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ), will manage the site for conservation and public access, Josh Kastrinsky, NCDEQ’s deputy communications director, wrote in an email to the Business Journal.

According to Kastrinsky, the Division of Coastal Management manages more than 44,000 acres across the state, including 10 coastal reserves and national estuarine research reserve sites.

Deed records show that the Land Trust transferred just over 97 acres to the state. Initially, Serenity Point was estimated to have around 150 acres, Blake said, but a survey of the property produced a more exact acreage.

“The thing about barrier islands is they're dynamic, and so they accrete sand, and then they lose sand,” she said. “Depending on big storms and everything else, (the area) does have some acreage variation.”

The land transfer took place after the Coastal Land Trust repaid a bridge loan that allowed the group to meet the deadline for closing on the property last year, Blake said, while they waited for grant funding for the purchase to come through.

That funding included $5.5 million in government grants, $3.15 million of which was from the N.C. Land and Water Fund and $1 million from the Division of Coastal Management, along with $1.6 million in private donations, according to Blake.

Even with the state’s ownership, the Coastal Land Trust will continue to host the South Topsail Stewards program, Blake said. As part of the program, volunteers commit to walking the property one day a week throughout the summer. They serve as the “eyes and ears” for the Land Trust and the state, alerting them to any issues on the property and answering visitors' questions, Blake added.

Blake sees the site’s new ownership as a continuation of the Coastal Land Trust’s goal of preserving the property. 

“It’s conserved forever,” she said. “It’s permanently protected, and it’s no longer able to be developed.”