A Virginia company purchased a historical property on Fifth Avenue in Wilmington that was once slated for a food hall.

The structure at 1315 S. Fifth Ave., also referred to as the National Linen Service Building, dates back to 1951. In April 2021, a company that had created a food hall in Raleigh announced it planned to open Seaboard Social Hall in 43,000 square feet at 1315 S. Fifth Ave.

But those plans never came to fruition, and the property owner, Greenfield Group LLC, decided to put it on the market.

On Wednesday, NL Lofts LLC, an entity of Richmond, Virginia-based J.D. Lewis Construction Management Inc., bought 1315 S. Fifth Ave. for $1.6 million, according to a deed. 

Efforts to reach a representative of J.D. Lewis Construction Management Inc. to find out what plans the buyer might have for the property were not immediately successful on Thursday and Friday.

“The property is zoned UMX (Urban Mixed Use), which permits the operation and use of the property for commercial and residential uses, including … restaurants, medical offices and retail.  This property is ideal for a wide range of commercial mixed uses,” according to marketing materials by listing agents Jeff Hovis and Sky Grainger, brokers with Wilmington-based Intracoastal Realty Corp. “The existing structure could be repurposed for retail, office space, mixed use, multifamily or a combination of several uses.”

Greenfield Group LLC paid $460,000 for the property in March 2021, tax records show.

The building would have required a full renovation for Seaboard Social Hall, which was estimated at about $15 million, according to a previous Business Journal article.

Monarch Property Co., creator of Raleigh's Transfer Co. Food Hall, had wanted to design the space to bring together the area’s top chef-driven restaurant concepts, up-and-coming and established food entrepreneurs and retail craftspeople, officials stated in their 2021 announcement.