Qualified developers and investors have until the close of business Thursday to submit an offer for an undeveloped, city-owned property near Live Oak Bank Pavilion and the Riverwalk.

The 3.26-acre tract at 1001 and 1021 N. Front St. has drawn interest from a range of developers and investors, according to Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), the real estate and investment firm marketing the property. The city acquired the land with its $68 million purchase of the former Thermo Fisher Scientific and PPD campus in July 2023.

The site, which has been dormant for years, is zoned central business district and its by-right uses include multifamily, office, hotel and retail, according to an overview from JLL. The company began marketing the property in April and recently issued a call for offers from interested parties, with the deadline for submissions set at the close of business on Thursday, city and JLL officials stated in an email.

After that, the city and JLL will review and negotiate the offers received. Ultimately, the Wilmington City Council will have to vote to accept an offer and enter into a purchase and sale agreement.

The city has focused attention and resources on “seeing this site return to productive use, while also seeking a market rate sale to fulfill the city's strategic initiative of debt retirement via surplus property divestiture," Aubrey Parsley, the city's director of economic development, wrote.

The property is a “uniquely positioned development opportunity offers a buyer the chance to build a Class A project on the last remaining site directly fronting Live Oak Pavilion,” according to a JLL overview of the property. 

JLL evaluated the property for its highest and best use in the current market and found that multifamily development is a “natural fit.” The firm has focused its marketing efforts on qualified developers and investors, Teddy Hobbs, director of JLL Capital Markets, wrote.

The site has generated “significant interest, despite uncertainties around tariffs and unstable capital markets,” according to Hobbs, because of its location near attractions like the Cape Fear River and Live Oak Bank Pavilion and the scarcity of development sites in the downtown area.

Roughly half of the groups JLL is in conversation with are based outside of North Carolina. The strong economic fundamentals and high quality of life in the Wilmington market make the site a “highly attractive investment proposition.”

“The types of interested parties we're seeing – institutional quality developers and private investors – suggest a positive outlook for the broader real estate market in the Wilmington area,” Hobbs wrote. “Their interest indicates confidence in Wilmington's long-term potential for growth and profitability.”

The Greater Wilmington Business Journal’s Power Breakfast on Tuesday will focus on downtown developments, with a panel discussion including Parsley.