The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to approve two rezoning requests for what would be two separate communities on more than 500 acres.

The separate rezonings allow a developer to eventually put a mix of housing in the two communities, one with 158.65 acres at the northeast quadrant of the interchange of Interstate 40 and Interstate 140 and the other with 350 acres at the southeast quadrant.

But houses won't spring up overnight on the two parcels.

Raiford Trask III, of development firm Trask Land Co., said the neighborhoods are likely 10-year projects. They're expected to eventually include single-family houses, apartments and townhomes.

"It will require two to three years for planning, infrastructure planning, permitting and design at the very least," Trask said.

The homes built there could help meet the area's ongoing demand for workforce housing, Trask said.

The land has been owned by the Trask family for decades.

One of the next steps, Trask said, is working with the N.C. Department of Transportation.

He said, "It's important for everyone who is in the community to understand that both of these pieces will require a lot of planning, particularly with utilities and traffic."