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Real Estate - Commercial

Soda Pop District Eyes Growth

By Emma Dill, posted Feb 3, 2025
Developers have plans to bring a new restaurant and businesses to the Soda Pop District. They also want to renovate the rest of the Coca-Cola bottling facility, which currently has 16 tentants. (Photo courtesy of Maus, Warwick, Matthews & Co.)
Wilmington’s Soda Pop District is set to grow in the coming years as local developers work to bring new businesses, uses and a new restaurant to the area.

For Andy Hewitt, one of the Soda Pop District’s developers, his near-term focus for the area is securing a tenant for a restaurant space at 920 Princess St. He also has plans to renovate the rest of the site’s original bottling facility and is eyeing land along Market Street for a new mixed-use project.

In 2019, Hewitt's firm AC Hewitt began its work on the Soda Pop District with the redevelopment of a former car dealership at 1020 Princess St. The 12,000-square-foot space today houses a taproom for Asheville-based Hi-Wire Brewing and pizza restaurant Cugino Forno.

In 2021, Hewitt and Sandy Thorpe, both of Parastream Development, purchased the former Coca-Cola bottling facility at 921 Princess St. and several other nearby properties in an $8 million joint venture. The first phase of work included renovating 66,000 square feet of the 78,000-square-foot Bottle Works building. 

That Bottle Works space is now home to 16 tenants, including ice cream shop Wandering Cone Creamery, Ibis Coffee and Cocktails, Patriot Roofing, an interior design firm, an art gallery and a company that works on movie sets. Roughly 6,500 square feet remain available for lease in the Bottle Works building.

Among the building’s latest tenants is the YMCA of Southeastern North Carolina, which moved into a 6,400-square-foot office and 6,700-square-foot warehouse space last September. Hewitt said having the YMCA offices in the district will help activate the area during the day.

“Bars and restaurants are great, but you also need some daytime users, which is why the YMCA moving their headquarters here is such a big win for the Soda Pop,” he said. “That's putting 30 to 40 people daily here.”

Hewitt wants to diversify the area’s food offerings by bringing a restaurant to a 4,000-square-foot shell space at 920 Princess St. He’s hoping for an eatery that’s a “little bit more elevated” and a “date night spot.”

Listing broker Lannin Braddock of The Braddock Group said they’re marketing the space to local and regional restaurateurs with concepts that match the Soda Pop District vibe. Since the space hit the market in December, Braddock said she’s seen strong interest. 

“We've intentionally left it in a shell condition,” she said, “so that a restaurant visionary can really put their own personal mark on it and hopefully be able to bring the history of the building to life.”

The restaurant also has an outdoor area that could be used as a patio. Braddock said she’s had good conversations with potential tenants and expects a restaurant user could be secured this year.

A new restaurant will provide a “culinary anchor” within the district, Braddock said, that will help bring the entire area to the “next level” as it continues to grow.

District developers have started discussing their plans to renovate the remaining 12,000 square feet inside the Bottle Works facility. Hewitt said the space will need to be gutted and will be the most time-consuming and expensive part of the Bottle Works renovation. He estimates the investment could total about $5 million.

“It is a natural next area of focus because we’re filling up,” he said. “So we are looking to continue to provide more space and the type of space based on inquiries we're getting and what we feel like is missing.”

The developers are also looking at the future of a roughly two-acre tract they own at 909 Market St. Nonprofit WARM NC recently moved out of a building on the site, which is currently up for lease, Hewitt said. In the coming years, he wants to bring new construction to the property, which is currently zoned for mixed-use development. 

“The plan would need to incorporate some parking, but we assume it will have some sort of ground floor commercial, potentially office, and you could also put apartments, so a variety of uses,” he said.

But, Hewitt noted, those plans are still in the early development stages.

Last August, Soda Pop Holdings LLC sold a nearly two-acre tract at the corner of Princess and N. 10th streets to Storehouse Holdings LLC for $2.5 million, according to property records. Hewitt said the site’s new owners plan to develop townhomes.

“We're hopeful that they'll be doing that project sometime in the next couple of years,” Hewitt said.

Hewitt is also working with the city of Wilmington on efforts to improve parking and streetscapes in the Soda Pop District. He said the city has plans to restripe Princess Street, adding parking spaces to both sides of the road. The developers also plan to roll out more available office and retail space in hopes of attracting users at all times, Hewitt said.

“We would love to see the Soda Pop District be busy 24 hours a day with people living here, working here, coming here to go have a drink or grab a pizza or whatever it may be,” he said. “When you look at what neighborhoods truly succeed … they’re active throughout the day.”

Correction: This version of the story corrects the developer of the 1020 Princess St. property and the seller of the two-acre tract at the corner of Princess and N. 10th streets.
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