A proposed project may help quench a thirst for more parking spaces in Wilmington’s Soda Pop District.
Additional parking in the district that got its name from a former Coca-Cola bottling plant could become a real thing. Plans for a Soda Pop District parking expansion project were submitted to the city Sept. 23 by owner and developer Cuadra Capital, a Charlotte-based real estate investment firm.
The proposal calls for the expansion and improvement of an existing parking lot at the corner of North 10th and Market streets, according to a project narrative submitted by Bolton & Menk, the Wilmington engineering firm serving as a consultant on the project. The proposed improvements would expand the existing parking lot and add new storm drainage infrastructure.
Counting parking spaces
Under the proposal, more than 30 parking spaces would be added to the site bounded by Market and Princess streets and North Ninth and North 10th streets.
The project, which is under review by the city, would add 31 standard parking spaces, two Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant spaces, two electric vehicle spaces and four bicycle spaces on 0.7 acres within a total parcel area of 2.28 acres, according to the site plan.
With the existing parking spaces, the project would bring the total number of spaces on the site to 68, according to the site plan.
Driveway access would be from North 10th Street.
Building footprints would remain unchanged
Two existing buildings border the lot: 920 Princess St., where a CrossFit Inside Out gym is located, and 909 Market St., where The School of Wonder, a private elementary school, is based.
Amanda MacLeod of Bolton & Menk stated in a Sept. 23 letter to the city’s planning and development department that the project does not include changes to either building footprint.
“The proposed improvements are limited to parking, landscaping, stormwater accessibility, and site circulation enhancements,” MacLeod wrote.
The letter notes that the developer is requesting that the Wilmington Technical Review Committee allow the parking lot expansion within 20 feet of a right-of-way and 35 feet of a street corner. Those requirements may be waived by the Technical Review Committee when a site is already developed with a building that is being adaptively reused, according to MacLeod.
The property is zoned urban mixed use.
An emailed request for comment from Brian Purcell, managing partner of Cuadra Capital, was not answered prior to the deadline.
Bob Liepa is the city of Wilmington and public safety reporter for the StarNews. You can reach him at RLiepa@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: A Wilmington entertainment district could get more parking
