Wrightsville Beach found itself in a jam.
The story began in 2013 as a developer placed under contract two parcels of land in the commercial district of Wrightsville Beach, located on the mainland side of the island municipality, across the ICWW. The parcels had been developed into a shopping center in the 1990s after voluntary annexation into Wrightsville in 1985, to access the town’s water and sewer. It is one of several Wrightsville properties located on the “West Bank,” as former mayor Bob O’Quinn lovingly refers to Wrightsville Sound.
After tying up the property, the new owners argued before the town of Wrightsville Beach for a favorable vote to change the zoning to accommodate mixed use, residential and commercial, arguing the property was no longer income producing. The proposal was for apartments, lots of apartments with a smattering of commercial to justify the ask for mixed use.
They did not prevail.
State Street was denied rezoning and then a subsequent request by the Wrightsville Beach aldermen for de-annexation; they wanted to take their ball and go play in the sand lot of Wilmington.
What most don’t realize is, after moving forward with the purchase following these denials, the developers almost immediately also purchased seven additional tracts contiguous to the derelict shopping center, six of these having access off Airlie Road, a historic roadway.
These contiguous parcels are in Wilmington.
With the additional purchases, the State Street Galleria partners have approximately 24 acres to develop and have invested at a minimum between $10 million and $11 million in the deal.
Then they waited.
De-annexation must be granted by the North Carolina General Assembly, which saw a significant change in its makeup following the 2012 election, which ushered in a super majority; Republicans took firm control not only of the legislature, but of the governor’s office.
As 2014 unfolded, it became clear to Wrightsville Beach officials that the State Street partners are Republicans with very strong connections.
Fast forward to summer — their attorney, Michael Lee, is the chosen candidate running for the state Senate. The real estate broker who represented the seller on the Galleria Shopping Center sale also introduced the sellers on the additional properties to State Street, both times for a fee. He now sits on the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen.
No one doubted the City of Wilmington would want this land and development now rumored to be in the $60 million range if all goes their way. And they are on a roll. No one doubted the City of Wilmington will be far more flexible with what State Street can build at the gateway to Wrightsville Beach. No one doubts the traffic mash that will result on Wrightsville Avenue, Airlie, Eastwood and Military Cutoff Road intersections, already at capacity.
The question in the air this week was, did State Street and its partners have enough pull with their Jones Street compadres to take this property from the town, if Wrightsville Beach continued to say no to de-annexation?
And the answer was a resounding yes.
Without the runaway action going on in Raleigh right now, the state of North Carolina can annex and de-annex property at will.
On Tuesday, at a hastily called public hearing to vote whether to continue to oppose de-annexation or accept a deal offered by the City of Wilmington to take the sting off the de-annexation, town attorney John Wessell repeated what everyone knew: the General Assembly clearly has the authority to de-annex the property.
Word was the legislation had already been drafted in Raleigh and was waiting in the wings to be introduced to force de-annexation of the site, if Wrightsville Beach said no. And that legislators from this area would be powerless to stop it.
It has been “favor time” in the General Assembly since the Reds took the state back. Republicans have set about to honor their campaign promises — the public ones as well as the private ones.
Think that it could not be done? Look no further than legislation passed by the GA in 2013 which transferred control of the Charlotte Douglas International Airport, owned by the city of Charlotte, to a regional commission the honorables set up. Also last year, the statehouse commandeered Asheville’s water and sewer system, again placing it under an appointed board.
Both greedy grabs are still being heard by the courts of appeal.
The additional property purchased behind the Galleria is located within Wilmington’s jurisdiction, not Wrightsville Beach, which would have been key to State Street’s arguments for de-annexation from Wrightsville in favor of Wilmington.
But that argument was never presented.
In rapid fire succession, a deal was unveiled from Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo offering a percentage of the ad valorum taxes the development would have paid Wrightsville if it had been developed as a part of the town and if it were a $22 million development. The payout is almost $800,000 over 29 years.
In return, the town would no longer oppose de-annexation. The deal passed unanimously on Tuesday night in a one hour public hearing, then the city approved the deal within the same night. Remember the story from Raleigh was the legislation was ready and waiting at the state house, so look for that to be consummated immediately.
It is expected the $800k will help the town swallow whatever unforeseen consequences come with this deal.
