An unnamed Wilmington business could get up to $5 million from the city and county for 414 jobs paying $85,080 on average. Both vote Monday and Tuesday.
An existing Wilmington business, known only by the code name Project Pearl II, could receive up to $5 million in local incentives to expand here. The deal depends on it adding 414 full-time jobs and investing $585 million in its Wilmington site by 2031.
The New Hanover County Board of Commissioners votes first, on Monday, on up to $3 million. The Wilmington City Council holds a public hearing and votes Tuesday on up to $2 million.
The figures are in the city’s agenda item and resolution for Tuesday’s meeting. Neither the city nor the county has named the company.
What the company would have to deliver
The city’s resolution says the expansion is expected to bring:
- 414 new full-time jobs at the project site
- an average annual wage of at least $85,080 for those jobs
- about $585 million of investment in real and personal property
- all of it by 2031, with the jobs kept through that year
The city’s cover letter calls the grant “competitively necessary to encourage the expansion of the business in the City.” The resolution says the company is choosing a location that offers “the best combination of cost, output, operational resilience, and long-term growth.”
The year-by-year targets
Exhibit A to the resolution sets a target for each year. Most of the hiring would come in 2029 and 2030.
| Year | New jobs | Investment | Most the city would pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 16 | $50.5 million | $400,000 |
| 2028 | 55 | $201.5 million | $400,000 |
| 2029 | 193 | $165.5 million | $400,000 |
| 2030 | 150 | $66 million | $400,000 |
| 2031 | 0 | $101.5 million | $400,000 |
| Total | 414 | $585 million | $2 million |
How the money would be paid
The city would pay up to $400,000 a year for five years. The county’s share is up to $600,000 a year for five years, according to the city’s cover letter. Together that is up to $5 million. By our calculation, that works out to about $12,077 of local money for each promised job.
The resolution sets these conditions:
- no payment until the company certifies, and city staff verify, that the year’s targets were met and its city property taxes are paid
- each payment shrinks in proportion to any target the company misses
- the city can claw money back if the company fails its obligations, including if it moves or closes within a year of the final payment
- the deal ends if the company does not choose Wilmington and announce it by Dec. 1, 2026, or if the county does not approve its share
City and county staff estimate the city’s incentive would be paid back by new city property tax from the project within about five years, the resolution says. The money would come from the city’s general fund, starting with the budget written in spring 2027. The first payment would be in the 2028 fiscal year, based on what the company reports for 2027.
When and where to speak
- County: the Board of Commissioners meets at 9 a.m. Monday at the Historic Courthouse, 24 N. Third St., Room 301, according to the county’s meeting recap for Oct. 5.
- City: City Council meets at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, in the Skyline Center at 929 N. Front St. The incentive is a public hearing, which state law requires before the city can spend the money. The notice was published Oct. 9.
Both meetings are open to the public. The county streams its meetings on NHCTV and Spectrum channel 13.
Also on Tuesday’s council agenda
- Downtown alleys: a $693,715 construction contract with Atlantic Coast Industrial LLC of Wilmington for the Downtown Alley Improvements Project
- Rezoning: a public hearing on 12.26 acres at 2225 Stonecrop Drive and 1124 Gallery Park Boulevard, to allow a future mixed-use development
- Parking: an update to the city code that replaces “parking meter” with “pay station” and drops coin-only wording, to match the card, coin and phone payments downtown already takes
What it means for you
- If you are job hunting: the jobs would not arrive at once. The targets call for 16 in 2027 and most of the 414 in 2029 and 2030.
- If you pay city property tax: the incentive comes from the general fund, which property tax helps fill. The city says the project’s own new tax should cover it within about five years. Our property taxes page explains how city and county bills work.
- If you want a say: speak at the hearing Tuesday or contact your council members before then. Our guide to who to call at City Hall has the numbers.
We will report the votes, and the company’s name if it is announced by the Dec. 1 deadline.
Have your say