An Atlanta-based development firm presented plans for a new shopping center in Ogden at a community meeting Thursday night, referring to the center’s anchor tenant as a Publix grocery store in response to a resident’s question.

The meeting was held at Ogden Elementary School off Middle Sound Loop Road. The proposed Ogden MarketPlace, which is expected to include a 45,000-square-foot grocery store and additional retail space according to conceptual plans, would be located at the corner of Market Street and Middle Sound Loop Road.

After listening to the concerns of a longtime area resident about the possibility of late-night disturbances from the center’s users, Charles Worthen, principal with Halpern Development Co., said, “Our grocer specifically deed-restricts any bars, nightclubs, pool halls -- we’ll have some restaurants in there, but they’ll be higher-end restaurants.”

When the resident asked about closing times at the center because his backyard backs up to the property, Worthen said, “Publix is not a 24-hour…” Worthen was unable to finish the sentence because the resident interrupted him to say he’s worried about the potential for noise and parties in the parking area after the grocery store and restaurants close.

“It doesn’t happen in our shopping centers. If it happens one time, it won’t happen again … we’ve got a $24 million investment in this property when it’s all done. I will assure you that we are not going to allow people to have parties in the parking lot,” Worthen said.

After the meeting had ended, Worthen said he cannot confirm that the potential grocer is Publix. Kim Reynolds, media and community relations manager for Publix, said in an email Oct. 22, “While we are looking to grow across NC, at this time we do not have a confirmed site for Wilmington.”

A survey map of the property spread out on a table at Ogden Elementary during the community meeting Thursday was labeled “Publix” on one edge.

Halpern has developed Publix shopping centers in Georgia and St. Petersburg, Florida, according to the Halpern Enterprises Inc. website.

New Publix stores opened Wednesday in Cary, Oct. 22 in Charlotte and Oct. 9 in Huntersville, according to the company's website. A Publix is scheduled to open Nov. 19 in North Myrtle Beach. The company's website says Publix reached nearly $29 billion in retail sales in 2013.  

Local traffic worries

Several residents at the Ogden meeting had more questions and concerns about the planned shopping center’s impact on traffic than potential nightly disturbances or what businesses might be there.

Road improvements on Market around Middle Sound Loop Road are included in N.C. Department of Transportation plans for the extension of Military Cutoff Road. Those improvements are vital to the development of Ogden MarketPlace, Worthen said, responding to a question about the timeline for the center.

“One of the major hurdles here is what I call the Lendire Road realignment. So that is actually scheduled on the DOT plan to be completed in 2019, and that’s a requirement of our anchor tenant that that be completed,” Worthen said. “We’re talking to DOT about actually doing the work ourselves.”

He added, “We’d like to get the thing started in, say, the summer of next year, and this kind of project will take about 12 to 18 months to build, start to finish.”

According to DOT documents regarding the Military Cutoff extension, the extension's final design team proposed to realign Lendire Road to form an intersection with Middle Sound Loop Road and Market Street. "The proposed improvements are expected to improve traffic operations along the Market Street corridor by eliminating the existing unsignalized T-intersection at Lendire Road and Market Street," the documents say.

Consultant Cindee Wolf of Design Solutions, who presented Ogden MarketPlace information for Halpern Enterprises at the meeting Thursday, said plans for the new shopping center won’t be formally submitted to New Hanover County until December at the earliest.

The property, which consists of eight parcels that total about 12.5 acres, would need to receive a conditional rezoning from the county before the shopping center could be built, said Sam Burgess, senior county planner.