Plans to bring more than 250 apartments and townhomes to a busy midtown Wilmington intersection have taken another step forward.

Raleigh-based development firm Chaucer Creek Capital submitted plans to Wilmington leaders last week for the complex they’re calling Midtown Junction. The project, proposed on 23 acres near the intersection of Carolina Beach Road and Independence Boulevard, is scheduled to go before Wilmington's technical review committee late next month.

The complex, which is proposed at 3818 Carolina Beach Road and 3930 Independence Boulevard, will be made up of 242 apartments and 15 townhomes, according to site plans, for a total of 257 units. 

The complex’s mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments will be housed in five four-story buildings on the site. The project's townhomes will be located in three separate two-story buildings. Midtown Junction will also feature a leasing center, a bike barn and more than 470 parking spots, site plans show.

Efforts to reach a Chaucer Creek Capital representative on Monday for additional details and a potential development timeline were not immediately successful. Chaucer Creek Capital isn't new to the Wilmington area, developing The Flats on Front in a joint venture with Charlotte-based DPJ Residential. The downtown apartment complex was sold for $97.5 million at the end of 2021.

The plan submittal follows a rezoning approved by the Wilmington City Council in a 5-2 vote in September, which allowed high-density development to move forward on the vacant site. The project faced some pushback from residents who voiced concerns about its impact on existing traffic along the Carolina Beach Road corridor.  

The project is expected to generate more than 1,700 car trips per day, including 105 trips during peak morning hours and 135 during peak afternoon hours, according to site plans.

The proposed development spans two tracts of land. A 10-acre tract closest to Carolina Beach Road is owned by Cameron Company Timbers LLC, according to property records. A second tract was owned by Life Community Church of Wilmington until it was purchased in November by Midtown Junction LLC for $3.25 million, property records show.

The site is across Independence Boulevard from the Crossroads at Independence, a shopping center that is anchored by the area’s largest Harris Teeter and is home to an array of both locally owned businesses and national chains. In recent years, the Carolina Beach Road corridor has witnessed an uptick in commercial and high-density residential rezonings and projects.