WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – A developer’s decision to abandon plans for a grocery store on Chestnut Street in downtown Wilmington has revived prospects for the Northside Food Co-op, which had paused its own project earlier this year.
Cape Fear Holdings walked back plans for what was expected to be a Publix on the property, which now goes back to the city. Last year, Wilmington City Council approved a $1.7 million bid for the property with Cape Fear Holdings expected to build the grocery store at 305 Chestnut St.
The co-op has been in development for years but was put on pause earlier this year after leaders learned about the planned grocery store nearby.
The Endowment later canceled $6 million in funding for the Northside Co-op.
Dorian Cromartie, president of the co-op’s board, said the developer’s withdrawal was a big surprise to them, but makes the co-op project more realistic.
“It was a huge surprise to us,” he said. “We will continue pushing forward until the grocery store is there. We have no reason to believe a grocery store will not happen.”
Cromartie said he’s confident the co-op will open within the next three years. The project still needs to secure a location and additional funding. Cromartie said the co-op has a good relationship with leaders from the city, county and Endowment, but needs additional buy-in from its community partners.
“The market projection studies that we had with the Publix there were not good. They were not going to be sustainable. With them being gone, our market projections are sustainable,” Cromartie said. “And going forward, we’re going to continue doing what we’re doing: making sure we get a grocery store that eliminates a food desert here in Wilmington, North Carolina.”
In a statement, City Council member David Joyner said the developer’s withdrawal creates new opportunities for Wilmington.
“A new opportunity emerges. While I was disappointed that the possibility of a grocery store coming to downtown Wilmington was further delayed, this also puts some options back on the table for the Northside Food Co-op,” Joyner said. “We should focus on the voices that have been working for years to end the food desert downtown before the City makes any further moves here.”
A spokesperson for The Endowment said their grant to the co-op was terminated earlier this year because the “vision underlying the grant was no longer being contemplated.”
“Earlier this year, The Endowment made a grant to Growing Resilience to support its charitable work in the Northside community, and we continue to support that work,” the statement says. “Yesterday’s news does not affect that grant, or any of our other grants or our broader grantmaking strategies. There is no more to say on the matter.”
Cape Fear Holdings did not respond to requests for comment on why they pulled out of the project.
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