For more than 40 years, what was called the Hotel Cape Fear was a towering presence in downtown Wilmington.
By the 1970s, the hotel was in need of renovations. That's when officials proposed a change.
According to a story in the Aug. 9, 1977, Wilmington Morning Star, a Wilmington housing task force recommended keeping the building around via renovation from hotel to federally funded housing for the elderly.
It was one of several priorities by the group, and the downtown hotel was marked as the first priority.
Shifting the building to 75 one-bedroom apartments, rent was proposed at $235 a month including utilities, supported by the Section 8 program. Several factors were considered, such as the area's crime rate, fire safety and convenient access
to shopping areas and bus lines.
Once the lone hotel downtown, the nine-story building at the corner of Chestnut and Second streets had declined by the 1970s. The hotel, built in 1924 and opened in early 1925, would retain its restaurant with new community and activity rooms and six efficiencies not covered by Section 8.
Now called the Cape Fear Hotel Apartments, it remains as affordable housing for seniors. Work has been done on the building in recent years, including approved work in 2023 to rehabbing the top three floors of the building, which had remained out of use since Hurricane Florence damaged the property.
Owen Hassell is the local news editor for the StarNews. You can reach him at ohassell@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: From the archives: Keeping a downtown Wilmington hotel alive
