The Week in Review
…..your Wilmington Connection
April 4, 2008
Wow i do believe we got the rain we needed this week in Wilmington all in time for those beautiful azaelas that we are so famous for, to begin the blooming process. This years Azalea Festival starts Wednesday the 9th April and carries on until the 13th. The Festival is a celebration of Wilmington’s exceptional artwork, gardens, rich history and culture during its five days of entertainment that includes: a parade, street fair, circus, concerts, pageantry, and all that is Southern.
Since its inception in 1948, the Festival has blossomed into an extended weekend celebration that attracts more than 300,000 people.
Remember there is no national housing market and national housing statistics do not apply and need to look at the individual markets as each market is behaving differently. Wilmington’s housing market is still performing and homes are still getting 96% of their listing price. This is what has been happening in our local Wilmington market.
2 Water Access projects Funded
Sunset Harbor’s boat ramp will continue to thrive, but the fate of a proposed boating and fishing complex in Pender County remains uncertain.
The two area projects both received funding from the state’s Waterfront Access and Marine Industry fund, officials announced Wednesday, with $915,000 going to Sunset Harbor and $3 million set aside for the Pender project. The funding decisions were made by Louis Daniel, the state’s marine fisheries director.
While the grant award will be enough to completely pay for the Sunset Harbor project in Brunswick County, the Pender proposal remains at the whims of private property owners, who are asking for $10 million and are under no obligation to sell their land to the state.
The money comes from the $20 million Waterfront Access and Marine Industry fund, which was created last year to secure public water access and bolster businesses such as fish houses and fishing piers.
State officials received 159 proposals requesting roughly $500 million. That list was whittled to about 20 finalists, asking for roughly $50 million.
City Manager Endorses Hotel Indigo
Wilmington is on the cusp of selecting a hotel for its forthcoming convention center. And early indications are it’s feeling kind of blue.
City manager Sterling Cheatham said Wednesday that is he is recommending that city council go with Hotel Indigo, a relatively new brand from the owners of Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza hotels.
Cheatham said city staff were persuaded by Indigo’s quality, which USA Today once likened to staying in the beach-house page of a Pottery Barn catalog. And he felt most comfortable with the credentials of
3 D Management Group, the development company proposing to build and run the franchise.
“Hotel construction, hotel development and hotel management, that’s what they do,” Cheatham said. “They are not just commercial developers, they are hotel developers and managers and operators.”
3 D was one of three companies that submitted proposals. Others were with Hanover Hospitality Group, which includes local investors, and Jerome J. Parks Companies, a Maryland-based developer. The response was half the number that answered a similar request for proposals last summer, which the city ultimately rejected.
Condo Sales
Existing condominium and co-op sales rose 3.7 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 560,000 units in February from a downwardly revised 540,000 in January, and are 29.7 percent below the 797,000-unit pace in February 2007. The median existing condo price (4) was $211,700 in February, which is 4.9 percent lower than a year ago.
…..until next week in the Week in Review
Tina
