Page 16 - Project Grace News Today

County Commissioners vote to move forward with Project Grace plans County Commissioners vote to move forward with Project Grace plans By Michael Praats | March 15, 2021 at 10:46 AM EDT - Updated March 15 at 12:21 PM WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - After several setbacks, the New Hanover County Commissioners are once again attempting to move forward with Project Grace, a downtown redevelopment project of an entire Wilmington city block. The project has been in the works for several years and has ...

Story Park and the downtown library. This week New Hanover County commissioners unanimously approved moving forward with Project Grace, after making a few minor tweaks. Those changes left in place the financing structure, which includes $24 million in additional costs to taxpayers in order to ensure the participation of private development. Several of the last minute changes to the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, between Zimmer Development Company and the county addressed concerns voiced ...

Project Grace planning, financing on agenda for New Hanover County commissioners NHC commissioners could take next step on Project Grace on Monday By Jon Evans | March 12, 2021 at 4:00 PM EST - Updated March 15 at 7:48 AM WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - When New Hanover County Commissioners meet at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning, March 15, members could take a step forward in a project that could transform a county-owned block of land in downtown Wilmington called Project Grace. The block surrounded b...

WHQRs Hannah Breisinger and Ben Schachtman discuss the story. The current proposal for Project Grace, New Hanover County’s plan to redevelop the downtown library block, will cost taxpayers $90 million over 20 years in lease payments to the Zimmer Development Company. But by its own calculations, the county could save $24 million if it borrowed the money at the current low interest rates and built the project itself. The county is in a bind. Zimmer has said it will only participate if the proj...

Project Grace plans call for a museum and library to be joined on a downtown county-owned parcel. Private apartments will flourish too, according to an agreement between New Hanover County and Zimmer Development Company that will guide the demolition and rebuilding of various county parcels. (Port City Daily/Courtesy New Hanover County) NEW HANOVER COUNTY—Plans to demolish and reconstruct multiple county properties will be presented to the board of county commissioners March 15.  After years...

Listen to the story here. Project Grace is New Hanover County’s redevelopment project for the downtown library block. Ahead of a vote by county commissioners, representatives of the Cape Fear Museum and the New Hanover County Library are weighing in on changes they’d like to see to the current plan. Late last week, the chairs of advisory boards for the museum and library both sent letters to the board of commissioners; the chairs have laid out a number of key changes and additions they’d ...

EDITOR: “We had a team of consultants…on-site personnel, the general contractor, subcontractors, and the New Hanover County Inspections department looking after our interest and we felt like that was sufficient” lamented Lucien Ellison, senior managing partner of East West Partners for the developer of River Place. Obviously, this was not enough oversight for the $80 million mixed-use and defect-infested downtown building. As the StarNews recently reported, this brand-new building suffers...

Listen to the show here. Hosted by Ben Schachtman, Managing Editor of HQR News, the program is an opportunity for local officials and reporters -- the people who make news and the people who report it -- to talk about the issues that affect our community. Expect deeper dives and candid conversation. On this episode of The Newsroom:  Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, on challenges facing the city, including public transportation and affordable housing. Cedric Harrison and Evan Folds, discussing the...

By Cece Nunn, posted Feb 22, 2021 A virtual community roundtable Tuesday will focus on Project Grace, a $107 million project that would transform a New Hanover County-owned block in downtown Wilmington into new public and private facilities. Wilmington Downtown Inc. President and CEO Holly Childs will share the current vision and next steps with panelists who include:   Dane Scalise, WDI Board Chair Jennifer Rigby, Chief Strategy Officer, New Hanover County Adam Tucker, Direc...

Listen to the story here. Many of the region’s problems don’t stop at the boundaries between the City of Wilmington and New Hanover County. At a recent joint meeting, elected officials found common ground -- but also some tensions -- on challenging issues affecting both governments. The meeting, initially slated to run 90 minutes, went nearly twice as long -- and no wonder, as City Council members and commissioners had a slew of topics to tackle. “The first one is the needs of the unshelt...