The Wilmington Family YMCA has purchased land on Market Street as part of its expansion plans, an official said this week.

The not-for-profit organization paid $250,000 for a little over a third of an acre at 2836 Market St., property that connects to the driveway at the Y's location at 2710 Market St. via 29th Street, on July 20, according to New Hanover County tax records.  

“The long-term vision is that we need additional parking as we redevelop the Y, and so we know that that space can be redeveloped into parking,” said Dick Jones, president and CEO of the Wilmington Family YMCA.

YMCA officials and supporters are in the silent phase of their efforts to raise more than $4 million to rebuild and expand the organization’s main facility at 2710 Market St. That money would be added to the $3 million the Y received from insurance as a result of a fire in 2015.

Jones said the cost of the project will likely be higher than first anticipated.

The general contractor, Thomas Construction Group; the architect, Bowman Murray Hemingway Architects; and the YMCA’s building task force committee have been working to refine the scope and cost, according to a newsletter sent to YMCA members.

Along with the renovation project, the YMCA is working on a potential community aquatics center, Jones said, which would feature a 50-by-25-meter competition pool, Jones and the newsletter said.

“This aspect of the project will be undertaken as a collaboration with several community partners. Partnerships are currently being discussed with the City of Wilmington, New Hanover County, NHC Schools, New Hanover Regional Medical Center and WOW (Waves of Wilmington). It's exciting to consider the impact a Natatorium would have for our region and our citizens," the newsletter said. "This, coupled with an all new YMCA facility, would provide an expanded ability to serve the needs of the Greater Wilmington Community.”

The purchase at 2836 Market St., meanwhile, could one day add up to 75 parking spaces for those who use the YMCA’s building at 2710 Market St., Jones said.

Cody Cress and Tyler Pegg of The CRESS Group of Coldwell Banker Commercial SunCoast represented the sellers, the Johnson family, while Bill Rose, also of Coldwell Banker Commercial SunCoast, represented the YMCA.