What comes next following departure of Gateway Project developer? Mayor Saffo explains options

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  A day after East-West Partners, the developer of the Gateway Project, announced the project was not moving forward, the City of Wilmington has begun looking ahead toward what comes next.

According to Wilmington Mayor Bill Saffo, the main reason the project is not moving forward is rising interest rates and East-West pulled out after trying to make the project work.

Despite that, Saffo said he wishes East-West the best going forward and hopes to work with them on other projects in the future.

As for what comes next, Saffo said there are two likely outcomes for the land where the project was originally going to be built.

“Well, there’s two ways to look at it,” Saffo said. “Either we go back out for an RFP, telling the private sector these are the things we would like to see and working with one developer that would take a very large piece of the properties down there. Or you could individually piecemeal the properties for sale to developers.”

Saffo said the city likely won’t have any discussions on how to handle the properties until the new city council meets following next week’s election.