The developers of an office building in the works in midtown Wilmington have secured an insurance company as a tenant.

North Carolina Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance Co. will move its office in Hanover Center off Independence Boulevard to The Offices at Iron Gate at 2725 Iron Gate Drive, which is under development by Wilmington-based SAMM Properties Inc.

Construction on The Offices at Iron Gate is expected to start in mid-March and be complete in December, said Parker Anderson, commercial developer with SAMM Properties. 

“We have all development permits and are starting to clear the site in the next several weeks,” Anderson said. 

He said Brandon Lisk with Adams Southeastern Construction will be the general contractor.

Dennis Furr, NC Farm Bureau’s executive of marketing, said Tuesday that his company has had an office at Hanover Center since 2009.

“We outgrew that space and were looking for new space in the same general area,” Furr said. “We had built an office with SAMM Properties in the Bradley Creek area and were very happy with that building, so that’s why we decided to go with them here.”

Furr said NC Farm Bureau had more than 13,000 members or households in New Hanover County in 2023.

“We’re very committed to the community and want to stay in that community,” he said.

NC Farm Bureau, which has an additional Wilmington location at 5815 Oleander Drive, Suite 340 in Bradley Creek Station, is leasing 7,600 square feet in the 21,160-square-foot Offices at Iron Gate building.

The Iron Gate project is attracting interest from other potential tenants, according to Anderson.

“We are currently in discussions for the remaining available space in the building with three different users, with two of the three being medical practices,” he said.

The demand for new, modern office space in Wilmington is in a far better situation than major markets in other parts of the country, Anderson said. 

“As major metro city office markets are seeing high vacancy rates, Wilmington has one of the lowest Class-A office vacancy rates in the country at less than 2% in the most recent report,” he said. “With not having started construction yet on The Offices at Iron Gate and having the potential for the entire building to be leased before construction begins, I think that is a great testament to the high demand for Class-A office space in Wilmington.”