The owners of a Wrightsville Avenue retail center began a major exterior renovation recently that's expected to be complete by the first of August.

River Associates LLC, managed by John Jordan, has owned Wrightsville Center at 3502 Wrightsville Ave. in Wilmington for 12 years.

Jordan also owns the center's anchor tenant, gift and home furnishings store Protocol: Elements for Good Living.

"We're a high-end brick-and-mortar store, and we really felt it was time for the property to reflect the demographic that shops at this center, not only with me but at the other tenants as well," Jordan said Friday.
 
Based on a design by Wilmington architect Cothran Harris, the project is being executed by Uhl Inc. general contractors and is scheduled for completion by Aug. 1, Jordan said.
 
Other tenants at the 13,000-square-foot Wrightsville Center include Fiore Fine Flowers, Body Aligned Pilates Studio, The Monogram Shop and Beyond Basics Beauty Supply. The center was built in 1989, and River Associates bought it for $700,000 in 2004, according to New Hanover County property tax records. 
 
Jordan said he believes the renovation will help a growing movement to raise the area's profile.

"This can't help but echo some efforts right now ... to define midtown as a shoppable area," he said, referring to a group led by Lanier Property Group and other stakeholders in the central portion of Wilmington. "We're smack dab in the middle of it. It makes sense for us."