Just south of Market Street, a Raleigh-based developer plans to build 60 new townhomes on a site once slated for more than 190 apartments.

The shift in plans for the roughly 10-acre site at 120 Switchyard Road stems from changes in the real estate market, said Joe Cebina, managing director with developer TBM Partners. The market has seen more demand for townhomes, a housing type that can sometimes be more attainable for today’s buyers, Cebina said.

The project plans include 60 attached townhomes, which are shown clustered throughout the site in 14 buildings. Each townhome will have three bedrooms. Before the plans can take shape, the site has to be rezoned to accommodate the new proposal.

“We’re working towards rezoning it, just because it seems like that’s the highest and best use of this parcel at this point in the market,” Cebina said.

Last week, the Wilmington Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend approval of the rezoning. The rezoning is expected to go before the Wilmington City Council at its Aug. 6 meeting for final consideration, Cebina said.

TBM Partners is under contract to purchase the site from its current owner, PBW Holdings LLC, a limited liability company registered to local developer Dave Spetrino. Spetrino previously proposed a 192-unit, four-story apartment complex on the site, with 10% of the units reserved for workforce housing for 10 years. Wilmington leaders approved a rezoning for that project in 2020.

The site is adjacent to the offices of PBC Design + Build. Spetrino, the former owner of PBC Design + Build, sold the company last summer to Kyle Henry, who is also listed as a member of PBW Holdings LLC.

Cebina said he first found out about the site from his connections in the Wilmington area and was drawn to its central location. Although just off of Market Street, a significant portion of the site is covered with wetlands.

“It’s gonna feel somewhat private even though it’s kind of in the middle of everything,” Cebina said. “Really, that’s what we saw as the appeal.”

While TBM Partners started out developing projects in the Triangle area, it expanded into the Cape Fear region about five years ago, Cebina said. After finding the Swtichyard Road site, he began developing project plans that reflected the current market.

“As property values have increased and costs have increased, we’ve noticed a trend where people are willing to live in a townhome, not just as a starter home,” he said. “Townhomes are a good way to enable homeownership for folks.”

While the new plans don’t include a workforce housing component, Cebina said he expects the prices of the site’s for-purchase units to be more “achievable” for prospective buyers. He said it is too early in the development process to offer a range of potential home prices.

“This site will be achievable by a wider band of the overall home-buying pool than if it was just straight single-family detached,” he said.

Although still early in the process, Cebina said he expects the townhomes could break ground in late 2025.