In September, state officials announced that Brunswick County was the fastest-growing county in North Carolina, with a 24% population increase from 2020 to 2024.

Nearly 33,000 residents swelled the county’s head count, which increased from 136,689 to almost 170,000, according to the N.C. Office of State Budget and Management. In 2004, Brunswick’s residents numbered less than half of that at 84,000.

And the people keep coming. With that in mind, local governments and developers are working to position themselves to try to accommodate current and future growth.

Standing near one of the entrances to his new master-planned community in Leland, Terrapin, D Logan of Logan Developers Inc. shared how sales are going so far.

“Both my commercial lands and the residential lands are doing better than I had anticipated,” Logan said in October. “We’re off to a very, very good start.”

The developer handpicked local and regional homebuilders to be part of Terrapin, including Atlantic Homes, Chesapeake Homes, Kent Homes, Legacy Homes by Bill Clark, Logan Homes and McKee Homes.

Logan Developers Inc. has sold 300 of 600 lots in Terrapin’s current phase. As a result, Logan has adjusted his estimated timeline for a full build-out of 2,800 housing units.

“I figured on it being 10 years, but it’ll probably wind up being about seven,” he said.

It makes sense to Logan because, he said, in addition to lower taxes and more open space, “there are a lot of special things about Brunswick County.”

Logan said, “It’s busier than it used to be, but it’s still a beautiful place to live, and the lifestyle it provides is unmatched.”
 

Thousands of homes

While Leland is responsible for its own planning process, Brunswick County officials steer planning and zoning in other towns and unincorporated parts of the county.

“Keeping up with the growth is a challenge, but Brunswick County has been doing a lot of things to respond to those challenges, such as infrastructure growth, as well as a new land use plan, and we’re working on a new UDO (Unified Development Ordinance),” said Brunswick County planning director Kirstie Dixon.

Efforts to keep up with growth seem to be paying off on the front end of the planning process, she said. “When our projects go through technical review, we have a lot better plans than we had, say, 10, 20 years ago,” Dixon said.

In one massive sign of growth, developers are betting on the potential demand for nearly 12,500 homes on more than 4,300 acres along Brunswick County’s Town and Turkey creeks.

Strategic Real Estate Partners LLC, an Atlanta-based firm, has been working with Brunswick County officials during the planning process for the massive community.

The project is still under review, Dixon said.
 

Commercial signs

Located about 20 minutes from Wilmington, Terrapin encompasses 1,000 acres, a little over 50 of which are for commercial use.

Terrapin’s commercial area is expected to include a grocery store and medical offices. In one of the most significant health care facility announcements in recent years, Novant Health on Oct. 20 announced its plans to build a hospital in the Terrapin commercial section.

With an estimated cost of more than $251 million, the two-story, approximately 142,000-square-foot hospital would hold 20 beds. It could accept patients by January 2030, according to Novant’s certificate of need application to the state.

Novant officials referenced Brunswick County’s growth.

“Currently, this North Carolina region relies solely on two existing hospital-based Emergency Departments (EDs) – one in Bolivia and one in Southport – both of which are a significant and challenging distance from the Carolina Shores area,” according to the application. “Due to high population growth and seasonal tourist traffic, particularly along the U.S. 17 corridor, patients face unacceptably long transit times, where delays can range from a half-hour to over an hour.”
 

Looking toward the future

Most of the county’s new residential projects are planned developments (PD).

“Planning staff recommend the planned development because it requires buffers. It also allows a variety of housing types,” Dixon said.

Flooding is a concern throughout the county, and Brunswick is currently updating its stormwater ordinance.

Meanwhile, the county’s new UDO is moving forward, Dixon said, but a state law “really doesn’t allow us to do a document or ordinance that we wanted.”

The law, Senate Bill 382, limits the creation of non-conformities for commercial properties and limits down-zoning, among other hurdles, she said.

But despite the challenges, Dixon said the county is in good shape.

“Brunswick County is vibrant. It is healthy,” she said. “So even though we might have rapid growth, and I know that that makes for challenges, and it makes for a lot of change, it is still healthy, and it’s a strong local economy. And you know, not all places in North Carolina have a strong, growing local economy.”