The Week in Review October 27,2007

The Week in Review

...your Wilmington Connection

October 27, 2007

I trust you and your family will have a Happy Halloween, Let me know if you have any amusing stories to share. Last year my family and I got all dressed up in costume a cat, a devil, ninja and a fairy....well we were attending a party, but when we arrived no one was there as we arrived one day early..needless to say we had to dress up again the next day. Very funny! ( I cried with laughter...but my crew were not amused.

It appears the Wilmington Real estate market has picked up. We had double the amount of contracts this week. Why you ask? Mortgage rates are good, home prices have dropped some and what better time to get into a new home just in time for the holidays.

 

Bradley Creek area sewer work to continue

Site work has begun at Bradley Creek Pump Station for the next phase of sewer repairs in the Bradley Creek area. The work will involve replacing the junction box at the pump station and upgrading of pumps, electrical system and roof. The work will be performed by T. A. Loving Construction Company and is a joint city and county project.

The junction box has five sewer lines connected to it, including the Bradley Creek Outfall Line. New Hanover County recently completed an upgrade of this line and manholes using Cured In Place Pipe and a spray liner. The county is the permit holder for the incoming lines and junction box while the city owns and operates the pump station. Upgrading the junction box is one of the requirements of the Special Order of Consent recently entered into between the City and the State of North Carolina.

With the site clearing finished, the work has begun and is scheduled for completion in late December. This project will require periodic closing of one lane of traffic on Oleander Drive. Closures will be scheduled to minimize impact on traffic and coordinated with the N.C. Department of Transportation. Electronic messaging signs will also be placed on Oleander calling attention to lane closures for the traveling public.

Consider the big picture

 

Some Oak Islanders are understandably upset about a project that would place a pair of high-rise condominium buildings and three smaller ones near the Intracoastal Waterway.

Sadly, the town has no control over those buildings - they would be outside the town limits and under the control of Brunswick County. But the 56-slip marina and 224-boat storage facility that would accompany the condos are in Oak Island and, as proposed, would violate the town's land-use plan.

The plan isn't merely a suggestion; the Coastal Area Management Act requires coastal communities not only to have one, but to follow it.

Any changes to such plans should be made carefully and cautiously - and only if it can be demonstrated that they won't harm the environment or the community's character, or set a bad precedent.

The Planning Board already has given the project its stamp of approval; the Town Council is thinking about making changes to allow the project. Belville signs with downtown developer

 

Belville | Under a veil of controversy, the town has decided to make its union with downtown developer Urban Smart Growth official.

The Belville Board of Commissioners voted Monday night to sign a contract that will bind the town to the developer for the next 20 years, with a provision that says no future action by the town may change the agreement's policies. The developer, which the contract says already owns more than 25 acres in the town, will be responsible for rebuilding the town's gloomy central business district. In turn, the town will commit to seeking grants and tax increment financing to pay for the project's infrastructure.

"What was a source of community embarrassment is now a clean slate for new development," Michael White, Urban Smart Growth's local partner, said of downtown Belville, now partially emptied by the demolition of old structures.

The agreement between the town and the developer is set to take effect on or about Dec. 3, before a new administration takes office. Town Administrator Tracie Davis said that's the date the town intends to lift its months-long moratorium on business and industrial development and finish work on its zoning ordinance.

Monday's meeting lasted almost four hours, during which some residents voiced concerns that the town might be rushing into a commitment to get it through before the new administration can have any say in it. They also said the town did not give them a chance to thoroughly examine the contract.

Town officials said the document is still subject to revisions before the effective date.
Brunswick Housing Opportunities goal: affordable housing

After more than a year of meetings on affordable work force housing in Brunswick County, a new venture has begun to make sure action is taken to help the average worker afford a home.

Brunswick Housing Opportunities is a new organization aimed at creating policy changes, building affordable housing and educating homebuyers.

The organization, which is awaiting nonprofit status approval, was started last month by Resea Willis, former program director of Countywide Community Development Corp.

At Countywide, she led the housing summits. She also leads a new coalition of Brunswick County residents, homebuilders and others involved in the housing industry that meets monthly to explore ways to help more of the county's workers afford their own homes.

Willis said the idea for a nonprofit focusing solely on the issue came out of the coalition meetings where members said there needed to be a driving force to translate their ideas into action.

"We knew that we needed a nonprofit development arm, and there was not one in the county, and we knew that we needed to concentrate solely on this new initiative," Willis said.

Southport, Oak Island properties are sold

Southport and Oak Island properties put in limbo by a lawsuit between a developer and his financial backers have been sold.

Mainstay Building and Development Inc., based in Raleigh, is paying $57.5 million for properties including the Yaupon Beach Fishing Pier in Oak Island and Fishy Fishy Restaurant, Stevens Park, Southport Crossing and a residence at 109 Davis St. in Southport, according to court documents.

Judge John R. Jolly Jr. signed an order Friday authorizing receiver George Rountree to sign a contract with the buyer.

Another contract was signed Oct. 16 authorizing the sale of The Preserve, a partially completed condominium project near Oak Island, for $20 million to John Sadowski of Florida.

The properties were among 17 listed for sale about two months ago, after the N.C. Business Court in Raleigh appointed Maus Warwick Matthews & Co. to try to sell them before they went to a foreclosure auction.

James and Bridget Chirico filed suit in May in Chatham County to prevent Rodney Hyson Sr. and Rodney Hyson Jr. of Cape Fear Realty from taking further actions on behalf of the Cape Fear Trading Groups, the companies that both sides formed to develop land and businesses. The Chiricos have alleged that the Hysons lied about profit expectations, took funds to use in their other businesses and hired people without permission, among other misdeeds.

Five properties in Southport's Yacht Basin area were sold Oct. 10 in a foreclosure sale to Cooperative Bank. Cape Fear Trading had defaulted on loans totaling $4.6 million that the bank made 20 months ago.

The Preserve property closes 42 days after the contract was signed, and the other properties bought by Mainstay will close in 60 days, said Leo Nowak, broker for Maus Warwick Matthews & Co.
...until next week in The Week in Reveiw Tina