New housing is planned for a popular corridor in an area where several decades ago a dairy farm used to operate on land now filled with houses.

Echo Farms Apartments is one of the latest projects to be proposed off Carolina Beach Road near the Echo Farms subdivision, which was created in the 1970s.

“We like the proximity to downtown Wilmington and the growth occurring in the midtown area,” said Matt Maynard of Tribute Properties, the company developing Echo Farms Apartments.

Preliminary plans completed by Malpass Engineering for the 184-unit project, which would include eight buildings, open space, stormwater management systems and the extension of public utilities, were expected to be considered for approval by the city of Wilmington’s Subdivision Review Board on Nov. 18, after press time.

Maynard said the apartments, on nearly 11 acres of land at 4010 Carolina Beach Road, are not part of the Echo Farms subdivision, but “we used the name because we like the history of the entire area back to its days as a dairy farm.”

A.O. McEachern created the dairy farm in 1908, according to a StarNews history article on the neighborhood.

Echo Farms Apartments will be market rate units, Maynard said.

“Echo Farms will be all one-bedroom apartments, so we will probably attract a different renter than the other properties,” Maynard said.

He said the site plans differ from some traditional apartment development.

“Also, our property is filled with many beautiful old live oaks that we have worked really hard to preserve in our site layout. This is really unique for this property type as most apartment developers strip sites bare and replant much smaller trees, which is unfortunate because this leads to complexes that look like you are living in a parking lot,” he said.

A different development company is building Echo West at 4060 Independence Blvd. The subdivision is made up of more than 90 single-family homes on a little more than 31 acres that are owned by Hoosier Daddy LLC. The project was issued a stormwater permit by the city of Wilmington in October.

In Westwood at Echo Farms, a new townhome was under construction in November off Independence Boulevard.  

More residential development and commercial projects near Echo Farms are expected  to be on the way along Carolina Beach Road and off Independence Boulevard, with some undeveloped land still for sale there.