Riverlights officials are working toward creating a little over 400 new home lots for the 1,400-acre master-planned development’s next phases.

Developers recently submitted site plans to the city of Wilmington for phases 7 and 8 of Riverlights, a project off River Road owned by a subsidiary of North America Sekisui House LLC and managed by Brookfield Properties. 

The phases are expected to be built on unused land in the far southwest portions of Riverlights, directly across River Road from where a 37-acre Riverlights commercial village, 7Bridge, is being planned.

Phases 7 and 8 will contain diverse single-family home options, including a range of prices and sizes, said Nick Cassala, vice president of operations for Riverlights. He said they intend to break ground on Phase 8 by the end of the year.

While talk of a potential cooling in the housing market has increased in recent weeks, Riverlights officials don’t intend to pull back from continuing to create lots in the popular neighborhood, Cassala said, as they remain “cautiously optimistic.” 

To date, buyers had purchased 830 homes in Riverlights and the community has more than 2,000 residents, not including the occupants of Oasis at Riverlights, an apartment complex with 250 units, officials said.

“We think that the market demand side is still significant. We think that our community is well-positioned and now is well-established to continue to be in demand,” Cassala said. “Wilmington is going to continue to attract more and more buyers, whether they be from inside the state or outside of the state, just like we've seen the last two to five years.”

That anticipated Phase 8 start timeline – by the end of this year – “gives you an indication that we're still very bullish about Wilmington and our position in this marketplace,” he said.

Currently, phases 5 and 6, which will hold 360 homesites, are underway.

“We have delivered the first two sub-phases within phases 5 and 6 and the first 95 lots are complete,” Cassala said. “We're probably less than 60 days away from the first home starts in that neighborhood.”

Plans for phases 7 and 8 will be subject to a technical review by the city, but as of Tuesday afternoon, that review had not been scheduled, according to the city's project tracking website.