The future of Wilmington's new airport hotel: a matter of 65 feet

A six-story upscale hotel planned near Wilmington's airport cleared another hurdle earlier this week as the project moves toward construction.

Once built it will be the first hotel on the ILM airport grounds. 

Because of the project's proximity to the airport terminal and runway, hotel plans need approval from the Federal Aviation Administration and a height variance from New Hanover County leaders, including the county's board of adjustment.

Without rubber stamps from those authorities, developers say, the county could lose the $40 million project that airport authority members spent years luring to ILM.

New Hanover County's Board of Adjustment this week unanimously approved a requested variance from the 35-foot height cap in the county's Airport Commerce District under the condition that plans also receive FAA clearance.

The height of structures built inside the district, including the more than 4.6-acre hotel site, is limited to 35 feet, according to New Hanover County's Unified Development Ordinance.

The height cap was put in place to "avoid conflicts with all airport operations" and hasn't changed since established in 1976, New Hanover County planning staff told the board during a Tuesday meeting.

The hotel will be approximately 95 feet tall, forcing developers to ask for a 65-foot variance to district requirements to build up to 100 feet.

Two other New Hanover County zoning districts meant for business and industrial development already allow for the construction of 100-foot-tall hotels, said Matt Nichols, the attorney representing the Weiss brothers at the meeting.

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The Crowne Plaza-brand hotel is set to have 150 rooms along with a restaurant, lounge and rooftop bar. Plans also include more than 5,000 square feet of event and meeting space.

The hotel is being developed by New York City-based brothers Andrew and Chip Weiss. Plans for the hotel were announced in early April by New Hanover leaders.

The ILM site will be the 43rd hotel the Weiss brothers have developed and will be their second Crowne Plaza hotel. The first one is located in New York City. 

To receive a variance to the county's Unified Development Code, a request must meet four main criteria.

Applicants need to show code compliance would create an "unnecessary hardship," the hardship stems from conditions "peculiar to the property," the hardship didn't result from the applicant's own actions and the variance is "consistent with the spirit, purpose, and intent of the ordinance."

In their application for variance, the Weiss brothers contended it's "not economically feasible to build the hotel at the required 35-foot height limit."

"If one were to attempt to spread the building out to meet a 35-foot height requirement, the parking requirement would require subleasing so much additional land as to make the project economically not possible," their application stated.

In addition, reducing the number of hotel rooms to meet the current height requirement would also "make the hotel economically unfeasible and would defeat the intended purpose of bringing a hotel to ILM," according to the developers.

Nichols emphasized the importance of the hotel for the airport's future.

"The hotel is a very important factor in attracting future business and a catalyst for growth in the ILM business park and for the entire region," he said.

Nichols also presented a letter from airport staff supporting the height variance and said a private analyst had determined plans for the hotel are likely to win FAA approval.

Wilmington International Airport Director Jeff Bourk told the board he expects the FAA to approve the project, but ultimately it's up to the federal officials.

The FAA gets the final say

The variance was required for the project to continue working its way through New Hanover County's technical review process. The hotel went before the county's technical review committee last week.

The FAA will have the final say in approving the structure, and according to the variance request, "will not allow anything that is unsafe or would interfere with flights."

The request notes an approval of the variance could require the hotel owner to install markings or lights to ensure the structure is visible to aircraft as they take off and land.

The future of the hotel hangs on getting the requested height variance and FAA approval, according to developers.

"Without the height variance, construction of the hotel as designed and intended cannot be accomplished," according to the variance request, "and ILM will not be able to achieve its longstanding goal and vision of attracting a very high-quality hotel."

The application notes developers are on a tight timeline and need to start construction on the project in September to maintain their development schedule. 

Reporter Emma Dill can be reached at 910-343-2096 or edill@gannett.com.