Developers want to build 257 garden- and townhome-style apartments at the corner of Independence Boulevard and Carolina Beach Road, across from the mega-Harris Teeter grocery store that opened last year.

The property, 23 undeveloped acres, would need a zoning change, and Raleigh-based development firm Chaucer Creek Capital is also seeking a variance to the city's cul-de-sac rules to proceed with the project. The cul-de-sac request for the development, called Midtown Junction in planning documents, is expected to be addressed at the June 21 meeting of the city's Design Adjustment Committee.

During a pre-technical review meeting in April, "the length of a cul-de-sac street on the property was identified by city staff as failing to meet required technical standards and specifications," states a document in the application for a change. "The city of Wilmington Technical Standards state that a cul-de-sac length cannot exceed five hundred (500) linear feet from a public street. 'Street A' in the proposed plan, with its length of 1,532 linear feet, exceeds this amount."

Chaucer Creek Capital wants the waiver and/or variance "based on there being safe and adequate access for emergency service vehicles as designed. Applicant’s proposed project is designed to comply with the City’s Land Development Code for multiple-dwelling districts and is constrained by its corner location in providing separate means of ingress and egress near the intersection of Carolina Beach Road and Independence Boulevard," according to the application.

The site, at 3818 Carolina Beach Road and 3930 Independence Boulevard, is located between an existing single-family community to the northwest and an apartment complex along Independence Road to the southeast, "hindering the ability to include additional roadways in the site design. Additionally, the narrow locality severely limits block development on the site. The property also contains a large number of wetlands and trees, including a significant portion of wetlands splitting the property.

"To help reduce the impact to the wetlands, the site design divides the dwelling units into three (3) areas serviced by Street A via a cul-de-sac and turnaround. The existing topographic constraints and the presence of significant wetlands, as well as extensive tree preservation, are best served via the single Street A," the application document states.

A site plan for Midtown Junction shows three- and four-story buildings. The plan, which lists Cameron Company Timbers LLC and Life Community Church of Wilmington as property owners, states that the complex would include 242 garden-style apartments and 15 townhome-style units, along with more than 500 parking spaces.

Chaucer Creek Capital has worked on projects in Wilmington before, developing The Flats on Front in a joint venture with Charlotte-based DPJ Residential and selling the downtown apartment complex for $97.5 million around the end of 2021.

Efforts to reach a Chaucer Creek Capital representative for more details and a potential timeline Wednesday were not immediately successful.