A Wilmington-based real estate development firm is proposing two mixed-use communities that will include affordable apartments, townhomes and commercial space on Military Cutoff Road, according to a news release.

Tribute Companies has submitted conditional district rezoning requests to the city of Wilmington for projects not far from each other on Military Cutoff called Arboretum West, which would include parcels on Station Road and West Westwood Drive, and Arboretum Village at 294 Military Cutoff Road.

The plans include 360 apartments, 98 townhome units, boutique retail, fine dining, office space and a coffee shop, according to a letter from Mark Maynard Sr., president and CEO of Tribute Companies.

The addition of Arboretum West and Arboretum Village to the list marks the third and fourth major mixed-use proposals that have come to the city this year for property on Military Cutoff Road. The other two are The Avenue, which was withdrawn from consideration this year but might be brought back by development firm The Carroll Companies early next year, and CenterPoint, a project in the works by Swain & Associates on Military Cutoff and Eastwood roads.

For the Arboretum proposals, all of the buildings will be three stories or less and designed by local architect Cothran Harris, Maynard stated in the letter. Site plans submitted to the city show that the apartments will be located in Arboretum West, along with a potential 10,000 square feet of office space, 3,500 square feet of retail and 5,000 square feet of restaurant space, said Brian Chambers, associate planner for the city of Wilmington.

"Tribute is proud to voluntarily commit 10% of the apartments to be affordable at 80% of the area median income to help provide a private sector solution to the needs of Wilmington’s workforce," Maynard said.

According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the median income for a one-person household in the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area is about $47,800, and 80 percent of that is about $38,200.

Also in the Tribute plans, the townhomes will be located in Arboretum Village along with a potential 3,000 square feet of office space and 3,600 square feet of retail, Chambers said. 

Maynard stated that the site design for the projects has been "crafted by prolific local landscape architect and designer Scott Stewart" and it "preserves significant trees and embraces design elements of the New Urbanist movement."

As part of the development, Maynard's firm will be making traffic improvements to offset the impacts of the development and coordinating with the N.C. Department of Transportation to provide pedestrian access by crosswalk to the Cross City Trail, Maynard stated.

"The projects are located in an area identified by the City’s Comprehensive Plan to have opportunity for mixed use centers. The Comprehensive Plan was adopted by City Council in 2016 to help Wilmington realize appropriate change, growth, and preservation," according to the letter.

Tribute had originally submitted a rezoning request to the city of Wilmington for Arboretum West in 2015. The latest plans for Arboretum West and the plans for Arboretum Village will be reviewed by the city's staff and could be considered by the Wilmington Planning Commission at its Jan. 3 meeting, Chambers said. 

Tribute Companies consists of several individual companies, including Tribute Properties, which manages thousands of multi-family apartment homes in North Carolina and South Carolina.

Also this year, Tribute developers have continued working on the South Front Phase II community, a redevelopment project at South Front, South Third and Greenfield streets that consists of apartments, a restaurant by chef Vivian Howard called Benny's Big Time Pizzeria and additional commercial tenants.