No magic touch for Gateway
Pickett already frustrated by process, ready to pull out

By Ken Little

Developer Ron Pickett is considering pulling out of the proposed Gateway condominium project on Wilmington’s riverfront.

Pickett was taken aback by the Wilmington’s Planning Commission’s decision earlier this month to table action on the project until September until another traffic impact study on the surrounding neighborhood is complete. The planning commission must approve the design on the 10-acre site in the shadow of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge before city council acts on a request to rezone the land from light industrial to mixed use.

“I’m pretty much in shock that the planning commission wanted to pursue more (information gathering),” Pickett said. “If I don’t find the city wants it, I’m certainly not here to argue about it. I’m trying to do something nice for the city.”

Pickett said late last week that he was still exploring his options, including new ways of addressing concerns about the project.

“I’m still evaluating whether or not to proceed,” he said. “I was surprised, but that’s what happened and I want to make sure if I proceed that I do what can be done. I’m looking at any and all modifications to the project to see if I can mitigate traffic as much as possible.”

Pickett, who lives several blocks from the site in the restored Gov. Dudley Mansion at 400 S. Front St., had major input on a scaled-down Gateway design that city planners endorsed. Pickett said the design reduces projected traffic on nearby streets more than 50 percent and lowers the height of a planned 300-unit condominium building from 14 to 11 stories, or about 150 feet.

That’s not enough to satisfy some neighbors and members of the Residents of Old Wilmington group, who spoke in opposition at the planning commission meeting.

By coming on board as the primary developer of Gateway, Pickett would lift the project out of the quagmire of lawsuits and land ownership disputes plaguing the previous developers.

Gateway “is friendly to the community and friendly to the environment” in its proposed 11-story form, Pickett told commissioners.

Further downsizing isn’t financially viable, a frustrated Pickett said in an interview after the planning commission meeting. “It’s not worth the effort and expense to move forward,” he said.

As it is currently envisioned, Gateway would include a 900,000 square-foot building containing 300 upscale condominiums, along with shops, a restaurant and a parking deck. The development would be built on the south side of the Cape Fear Memorial Bridge.

Pickett is offering about four acres of land on the north side of the bridge to the city for use as a park that could be connected to an extended riverfront walk.

Opponents voiced concern about the building’s prominent profile as viewed from across the Cape Fear River. They spoke of a potential gridlock effect increased traffic would have on nearby Castle Street.

They said the project will clash with the historic flavor of the downtown neighborhood.
“We’re not opposed to a project on this site. We’re just opposed to this particular project because we still feel it is too massive in scope,” said Sherry Demas, mayor pro tem of Residents of Old Wilmington.

Demas said the Gateway structure is equal in size to eight Solomon Towers buildings, or two PPDs. Pickett said the comparison isn’t accurate and reiterated his motivation for taking a leadership role in Gateway.

“I’m a neighbor,” he said. “We’re here to try to make Wilmington a better place.”

A city planning department representative told planning commission members that the redesigned Gateway would be a good fit for Wilmington.

“The staff believes the overall benefits of this type of development outweigh the weekday traffic conditions. Development of this density and intensity should be encouraged in our downtown where we have the existing infrastructure to accommodate it,” senior city planner Christine Hughes said.

The grown-over tract where Gateway would be built is the site of a former molasses processing plant and other commercial operations. Developers have long eyed it as a prime site to build, most recently by a partnership incorporated as River 2 Sea LLC that included investment advisor Danny Alvis and Wilmington businessman John Evans.
Alvis died last year in the crash of the small airplane he was piloting. Alvis’ estate and other companies he formed soon became the target of civil lawsuits by investors who gave him large sums of money for the failed River View project and for Gateway.
Wilmington developer Peter Koke disputes ownership of the land and filed a separate Superior Court lawsuit that will be heard later this year.

To allow Pickett to enter the picture, a Superior Court judge had to sign off on a summary judgment clarifying the ownership situation. That was done in June
Besides calling for Pickett to undertake the additional traffic impact analysis, several commissioners also suggested a building design with a lower profile.

“I have a problem with the big box, or what appears to be a mighty big box,” Commissioner Johnnie Henagan said. “Castle Street has to be protected. Those two things have to be resolved.”

Pickett later said he was “taken totally by surprise” by the planning commission’s action, considering members approved a larger-scale version of Gateway last fall.
City Council delayed a vote on rezoning for that design in January, and the revised Gateway version ended up back before the planning commission.

If Pickett decides to withdraw, the project will revert back to Evans and River 2 Sea.
“I don’t own the land. I have it under contract to purchase and I can terminate it at any minute,” he said.