Plans to install infrastructure to spur development in northern New Hanover County, including a planned business park, are moving forward. 

At its meeting Wednesday, the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority board approved a design contract with McKim & Creed for $1.5 million. The designs are part of an interlocal agreement CFPUA and New Hanover County entered into in September 2022 to install infrastructure in multiple areas in northern New Hanover County, primarily along Holly Shelter and Blue Clay roads. 

As part of the agreement, CFPUA agreed to manage the installation of the infrastructure and the county pledged to cover the cost of planning and constructing it. The county budgeted $3 million for design work in its fiscal year 2022 budget for the project and a preliminary engineering report estimates it will cost $23.5 million to construct. 

McKim & Creed’s proposal to CFPUA states design plans could be delivered by February 2024. 

Utility work includes plans to install approximately, according to CFPUA: 

• 5.5 miles of 12-inch force main from Holly Shelter Middle School northeast along Holly Shelter Road.
• 4 miles of 16-inch water main from Barbados Boulevard northeast on Holly Shelter Road.
• 2 miles of 16-inch water main from Holly Shelter Middle School southward to N. College Road.
• 2.2 miles of 16-inch water main near Juvenile Center Road, southwest down Blue Clay Road.

CFPUA spokesperson Cammie Bellamy said while the schedule of construction and completion is difficult to predict as it’s still early in the process, installation could begin in the spring or summer of 2024, “but that is subject to change.”

In October 2022, county commissioners approved accepting a 50-acre land donation from Sidbury Land & Timber to develop a new business park off Holly Shelter Road. As part of that deal, the county must bring infrastructure to the site in order to record the deed to the property. 

Getting utilities to the proposed business park will cost $8.4 million, part of the estimated $23.5 million total for the entire infrastructure project. The Holly Shelter business park portion of the project must be installed by June 2026 for the county to obtain title to the land, per the agreement with Sidbury Land & Timber.