An unincorporated section of northern New Hanover County is one of the last frontiers for large building sites within county limits.

Although a Census Designated Place, the Castle Hayne community has none of its own official geographical limits, and many people use the moniker to describe not only Castle Hayne Road, but also Blue Clay and Sidbury roads.

So it’s only natural, developers say, that the area has been the scene of commercial and residential development activity in recent years.

South Carolina-based homebuilder Mungo Homes has homes in one Castle Hayne neighborhood under its belt and recently opened sales for Avenue One, a 158-acre community with nearly 590 homesites on Sidbury Road.

“While we were in the acquisition process for Avenue One, we were active in a community very nearby, also in Castle Hayne, called Parsons Mill Farm. That community has since closed out, but it was a huge success in its last year. It sold 65 net homes and almost $30 million,” said Cristina Hobbs, vice president of sales for Mungo’s coastal division. “We just saw a lot of opportunity in that submarket, so we’re excited to be there.”

She said activity has picked up on Sidbury Road.

“We’re running out of land in New Hanover County, and it’s such a convenient location,” Hobbs said. “You’re within 20 minutes to Wrightsville Beach, Mayfaire, downtown Wilmington, the airport and from major thoroughfares that can connect you all across the MSA.”

Mungo expects to sell the homes in Avenue One at various price points, with 398 single-family houses expected to start in the $400,000s and about 190 townhomes in the $290,000s. The company’s 12 floor plans for Avenue One are expected to range in size from 1,500 to 3,049 square feet with two to six bedrooms, and the community’s amenities include a pool  and dog park.

Another example of growth: On Blue Clay Road, developers want to create a workforce housing community with a new approach to project financing. Proximity Blue Clay would be a 24-acre community of 236 townhomes with one-, two-, and three-bedroom units built to market-rate standards, according to officials with the development company, Wilmington-based Cape Fear Development. A news release from CFD stated that the community would offer rental rates affordable to those who make 60% to 90% of the area median income for a period of 10 years before returning to market rate, agenda documents state.

In July, the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved investing $2 million in Proximity Blue Clay. The developers propose using a private development model that replaces private investors with community investors, such as the county, according to CFD.

“Sledge Forest in the Castle Hayne area has been the subject of heated debate in recent years as Copper Builders continue to work on Hilton Bluffs, a proposed community that would be located on a portion of roughly 4,000 acres.

Under the terms of an agreement with the N.C. Coastal Land Trust, Copper Builders would confine the subdivision to 600 acres in the southeast corner of the property. As of press time, the developers of Hilton Bluffs continued to revise plans in response to community objections and to secure the necessary county approvals.

Mark Hommes, who owns Castle Hayne Farms with Edwin van de Bovenkamp, said Castle Hayne is definitely growing, but he said he feels the infrastructure has lagged in terms of water, sewer, roads and drainage problems in an area that floods.

To address water and sewer infrastructure, New Hanover County and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority have been working to extend water and sewer lines to the county’s northern reaches, including Castle Hayne.

In May, CFPUA announced that starting June 22, crews would create temporary lane shifts in the 1200 through 1400 blocks of Castle Hayne Road to install a new water main as part of its South Castle Hayne Road Water Main project. Other CFPUA projects impacting Castle Hayne and the surrounding areas include the Northern Regional Pump Station and force main; Holly Shelter Road Water and Sewer; North College Road Water and Sewer; and the Blue Clay Road Water Main.
Castle Hayne Farms, a commercial flower farm, is located at 4415 Castle Hayne Road, not far from GE Aerospace and GE Vernova.

“GE lets out, and at the end of the day when the downtown traffic comes down Castle Hayne Road for the people that work out of town … traffic gets backed up all the way to the farm here, and you’re talking about well over a mile,” Hommes said.

Still, he said, “You can’t stop growth.”