Brunswick County officials will consider a rezoning for a proposed six-building development on Monday that could add more than 37,000 square feet of flex space to the Leland area.

A rezoning for the project, which is planned for a nearly 3.5-acre vacant site at 10018 Chappell Loop Road SE, will go before the Brunswick County Planning Board on Monday afternoon. According to site plans, the development would include space for warehousing, storage and offices, along with multiple outdoor laydown yards.

MSB Development Inc., a Wilmington-based civil construction contracting company, owns the proposed development site. Jeff Bouton, a project manager with MSB, said the project aims to cater to the region's ongoing growth west of Wilmington. 

"We just think that area is just going to be a big growth opportunity in Brunswick County," Bouton said. "There's going to be a need for smaller trades to have flex warehouse space and a little laydown area, and we just think it's a really good, aesthetically pleasing product."

The project includes a total of 37,350 square feet of flex space. Each building in the proposed project can be divided to house two tenants for up to 12, Bouton said. His firm also plans to occupy one of the spaces, Bouton added, and it is partnering with MBD Builders to develop and construct the project. 

The company is asking Brunswick County officials to rezone the site from its current R-6000 (high-density residential) zoning to CI-CZ (commercial-intensive conditional zoning). 

In its application, MSB Development states that the rezoning aligns with the county’s employment and industrial expansion goals for the area and is a “logical progression that supports the county’s goals of economic diversification and creation of high-quality job centers.”

The project would also include 39 parking spaces, on-site stormwater improvements such as a pond, landscaping along the street frontage, plus fencing and perimeter planted buffers to separate the site from adjoining properties.

According to meeting documents, county staff recommends approval of the rezoning and supports changing the place type identified in the Blueprint Brunswick 2040 Plan to an employment center. 

The Brunswick County Planning Board will consider the rezoning during its monthly meeting at 4 p.m. Monday. The request, along with the board’s recommendation, would then go to the county’s Board of Commissioners for final approval. The passage of North Carolina House Bill 1222 this summer shifted final action on rezonings and several other development-related items from the county's planning board to the board of commissioners.

The proposed project is among the latest aimed at bringing smaller-scale industrial spaces to the growing region.

In Leland Innovation Park, Canvasback Capital is developing a project that, once completed, would bring three buildings of small bay or flex space to the area – a total of just over 175,000 square feet. In northern New Hanover County, several business parks have also developed in recent years, offering additional small-scale flex space options for businesses.