Upscale shopping, new library, new performing and visual arts center, $44-million hospital expansion, hyper-successful aircraft repair operation, airport commerce park . . . just a few examples of success breeding success in Elizabeth City
a city on the move
By any measure - business development, retail expansion or cultural variety - Elizabeth City is a city on the move. Here's a summary of projects of note, recently completed or in the pipeline as of December 2007.
Recent Openings
DRS Technical Services - DRS is doubling its capacity to service C-130 aircraft with the addition of a second 80,000 square-foot hangar adjacent to the Elizabeth City Pasquotank Regional Airport. When the second hangar is completed, DRS will hire an additional hundred workers, bringing its total employment in Elizabeth City to 300. DRS opened its current facility in February 2006.
Farm Fresh Food & Pharmacy - This upscale Virginia-based chain opened its first North Carolina store in Elizabeth City in January 2005. The 50,000-square-foot store includes a Starbucks.
GVA Advantis - One of the nation’s premier commercial real estate companies, GVA Advantis recently opened an office in downtown Elizabeth City.
Wal-Mart Supercenter - This 208,000 square-foot facility with an additional 30,000 square feet of adjacent retail space opened to huge crowds in January in one of Wal-Mart’s most successful grand openings.
W.C. Witherspoon Memorial Library and Public Safety Building - The 22,500 square-foot library and facing public safety building in downtown Elizabeth City opened this June.
Museum of the Albemarle - This northeastern regional branch of the North Carolina Museum of History, with 54,000 square feet of exhibit, event and office space, opened on the Elizabeth City waterfront in April 2006.
Fairfield Inn & Suites - This 96-room extended-stay format hotel by Marriott on City Center Boulevard off the Halstead Road corridor opened this October.
Food Lion - A new 38,000-square-foot Food Lion opened this October on the Weeksville Highway near Elizabeth City State University.
In the Pipeline
Elizabeth City Aviation Research and Development Commerce Park - This $10-million project will take advantage of one of Elizabeth City’s greatest economic assets: proximity to the US Coast Guard Air Station and its growing aircraft-overhaul operation. The 64-acre research and commerce park will include branch campuses of Elizabeth State University, which offers a degree program in Aviation Science, and the College of the Albemarle, which offers several degree and certificate programs in aviation-related fields. The project, expected to create 500 jobs and attract $150 million in capital investment, will break ground in early 2008.
Albemarle Hospital Emergency Room Expansion and New Surgery Center - Work began in July on a $44-million construction project to expand the emergency department and build a new surgery center at Albemarle Hospital. The 38,000 square-foot emergency room and 31,000 square-foot surgery center are scheduled for completion in the summer of 2009.
The Pasquotank Arts Council Visual and Performing Arts Center - Renovatoins began in November on the historic Lowry-Chesson Building, one block from the downtown waterfront. When completed in 2008, the Center will house the arts council gallery and a 300-seat peforming arts theater.
Conference Hotel - Numerous developers recently have contacted the City of Elizabeth City, the Elizabeth City Area Convention and Visitors Bureau or the Albemarle Economic Development Commission about building a mixed-use project on Water Street to include a conference hotel, condominiums and first-floor retail. The City expects to issue a formal RFP for the project in January.
Read the 2006 State of the Region Report "The North Carolina Connection".