The owners of the Belle Meade Apartments complex on Carolina Beach Road want to expand the community, on property where tax-credit apartments had been proposed by a different developer and approved by New Hanover County last year.

The old plan failed to get the needed funding. The new plan, from Belle Meade Development Partners II, would add 96 units in three buildings to the currently 228-unit community, according to a site plan from Cindee Wolf of Design Solutions. 

In the previous plan for the nearly 7 acres of land at 4713 Carolina Beach Road, which currently belongs to the heirs of Lawrence Lawson, developers were hoping to offset the cost of building workforce apartments, with rents below market rate, by applying for federal tax credits.

"You may recall that a plan for an 80-unit tax-credit housing apartment complex was approved for this property in May, 2016. The project did not receive the proposed funding opportunity and has not yet proceeded into detailed design and permitting," Wolf explained in a letter to adjacent property owners.

The new plan to expand Belle Meade Apartments using the Lawson property is the subject of a community meeting that will be held 6-7 p.m. Jan. 26 at Silver Lake Baptist Church, 4715 Carolina Beach Road, Wolf said in the letter.

"A modification of the existing approval [for 80 units in the tax-credit project] would be required from the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners. The Conditional Use District allows only a particular use to be established in accordance with specific standards and conditions pertaining to each individual development project. Essentially, this means that only that use, structures and layout of an approved proposal can be developed," Wolf explained.

In such cases, the county requires that developers hold a meeting for all property owners within 500 feet of the tract boundary, and any and other interested parties, Wolf said. 

More than 4,000 multi-family rental units, including apartments and townhomes, are either under construction or proposed in the Wilmington area, according to the latest local apartment market update from Multifamily Realty Advisors. Two of the apartment communities are tax-credit projects.