UNCW aims to keep units on campus

A for-sale sign stands in the parking lot of the former Carmike 6 movie theater at 5335 Oleander Drive in Wilmington. It's hardl...

A for-sale sign stands in the parking lot of the former Carmike 6 movie theater at 5335 Oleander Drive in Wilmington.

It's hardly downsizing, but the University of North Carolina Wilmington is sticking to its own neck of the woods, and without a bulldozer in sight.

Facts

UNCW has these properties "across the street" from its campus:
South College Road (across from campus)
632 St. James Drive – former United Artist/College Road Cinema; UNCW parking
620 S. College Road – former restaurant; currently occupied by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)
720 St. James Drive – adjacent to the College Road Cinema Property; occupied by Business Affairs
737 St. James Drive – across from 720 St. James; currently occupied by UNCW Office of University Relations
South College/MacMillan (south of campus)
803 S. College Road – former real estate office; currently occupied by the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
630 MacMillan Avenue – former 84 Lumber site; currently occupied by the Isaac Bear Early College

"We aren't about to cut any trees or clear any land," said Steve Pickard, the school's director of real estate. "We've got 675 acres on campus, and over 100 of those are natural areas. For now, the plans are to keep them that way."

Overall, UNCW's physical reach is contracting around South College Road.

Up for sale are the six acres on Oleander Drive that the school purchased in 2006 for $2.5 million. The former site of the Carmike 6 bargain movie theater, it provided interim auxiliary parking for students and had potential as a film study facility. But now it's on the block for $2.95 million.

The movement to keep units on campus when possible started in late 2012 when UNCW decided not to renew the lease for office space on Military Cutoff Road.

"We operate so much better when everyone is on campus," Pickard said. "That's where the focus will be. We are still using space we own directly across South College Road (the old College Road Cinema and Swensen's restaurant sites) and along MacMillan Road (formerly real estate offices and 84 Lumber). Everything is within walking distance now."

As for further UNCW expansion, the drawing board does not extend beyond campus.

There are two parcels available near Seahawk Crossing and Wagoner Hall, in a quadrant with McNeill Hall and the Teaching Laboratory Building.

But, Pickard said, "There are no immediate plans to build on these sites since no funds have been allocated. (Future use) would most likely be academic, but yet undetermined."