Construction could begin this year for the development of one of the last large tracts on South College Road.

New Hanover County Commissioners on Monday unanimously approved the rezoning of a little over 64 acres at 5601 S. College Road from R-15, residential, to Planned Development (PD).

The PD designation allows for the potential creation of mixed-use structures with 24,000 square feet of commercial space and 40 residential units; up to 250 apartments; 50 townhomes; and 120 other homes.

The project expands the Whiskey Branch master-planned community, which began in 2018 with a residential subdivision containing single-family homes, duplexes and four-unit townhomes.

The developer is Dry Pond Partners, a Cameron Management entity.

“We were delighted to have unanimous support from the county commissioners, as well as prior unanimous support from the planning commission and the recommendation for approval from the NHC planning staff,” said Hill Rogers, broker in charge of Cameron Management, in an email Tuesday.

He added, “Over the past several years, at the direction of the commissioners, the NHC planning staff has updated the county’s unified development ordinance (UDO) to bring the codes and ordinances into the '21st century’ to better accommodate, manage and facilitate the population growth of the county and the evolution and changing nature of how real estate is utilized and developed.  

“The Planned Development (PD) ordinance is a valuable tool that provides clarity, certainty and also flexibility in how large parcels of land can be developed.”

As for when the project is expected to get started, Rogers said, “Engineering is underway; hopefully we will be ‘playing in the dirt’ later this year.”