A Charlotte-based investment firm bought a downtown Wilmington office building in a $15 million deal this week.

The purchase of 101 N. Third St., which closed on Thursday, marks Hilltide Capital’s first acquisition in the Wilmington market. While Hilltide’s portfolio is currently concentrated in the Triad region, principal Jason Tuttle said on Friday that the company is looking to grow its presence on the North Carolina coast.

Hilltide owns shopping centers, industrial properties and an office tower in the Triad area, along with marinas in Morehead City and Havelock, Tuttle said.

“Our hope is that our next concentration of assets will be in that Wilmington to Morehead City to New Bern triangle, which is a lot bigger than the Triad triangle,” he said, “but still, I think it makes sense for us.”

Tuttle said Hilltide was drawn to the Wilmington area because of its low office vacancy rates and rapid growth. 

“Those were great metrics for us, but mainly it was the quality of the building, the quality of the tenants (are) what attracted us to it,” he said about the 101 N. Third St. building. The property went on the market last fall with a listing price of more than $17.2 million.

The five-story building at the corner of North Third and Princess streets was built in 2015 and has nearly 69,000 square feet of Class-A office space. Tenants include Truist Financial, Sonic Systems, DSA Engineering, LS3P Associates and Wilmington Media and Marketing, the parent company of the Greater Wilmington Business Journal.

Tuttle said there won’t be any changes to the building’s operations under its new ownership.

“The previous owners did a really good job maintaining both the building and the tenants,” he said, “and so there's really not a lot to be done other than to continue to operate it as they've been doing it.”

According to property records, the building’s previous owner was 101 North Third Street LLC, which purchased the property in 2012 for $1.8 million. 

Paul Loukas, a partner and broker-in-charge with Cape Fear Commercial, and Lindsey Hess, a senior vice president with the firm, represented the seller in the recent transaction. 

Hess said on Friday the sale of the property highlights the “continued strength of Wilmington’s Class A office market and investor confidence in the region’s long-term fundamentals.”

“Unlike many larger metro areas experiencing higher vacancy and declining absorption, Wilmington’s office market has remained steady, supported by strong tenant demand and limited new supply,” Hess added.

Cape Fear Commercial is currently marketing a lease for a roughly 1,500-square-foot retail space occupied by Dunkin’ on the building's ground floor. A listing states the space is “ideally suited for a quick-service restaurant, coffee shop or café,” with availability starting Nov. 1. 

Tuttle said Hilltide is looking for a local establishment to fill the retail space. 

“We would love to find a local coffee or acai or some kind of food and beverage operator that would want to be right there on Third Street,” he said. 

Hilltide currently owns just over one million square feet in assets in the Triad, and, Tuttle said, the firm’s goal is to acquire a similarly sized portfolio across coastal North Carolina in the coming years.

“Part of our philosophy is not just to own properties in the cities we're in, but to also be engaged in them and help make them better,” he said. “So we're just super excited to be part of what's going on in Wilmington and continue to grow our North Carolina coastal portfolio.”