Get To Know Wilmington Downtown, iNC!

Using demographic data and market research, WDI staff and volunteers identify opportunities for new entrepreneurs and seek to attract new investment into Downtown. To maintain and enhance Downtown’s mixed-use character, WDI works with retail, restaurant, hospitality, residential and office prospects.

Wilmington Downtown, Inc. helps to maintain a healthy economic mix, improve real estate values, grow the sales tax base, and create jobs. WDI works to encourage and facilitate a wide range of growth initiatives. We connect people to real estate that is available for lease or sale, assist in economic incentive programs including historic preservation tax credits, research special zoning and land use codes, and collect parking data and development trends. We also administer our Microloan program to directly assist small businesses.

To keep Downtown attractive to investors, shoppers, tourists, diners, patrons of the arts and residents, Wilmington Downtown works with local government and private interests to make physical improvements and manage public spaces throughout Downtown. This encompasses preserving Downtown’s historic character, enhancing the scenic riverfront, revitalizing significant old buildings, beautifying streets, buildings, sidewalks, alleys, and other public spaces. WDI also works closely with law enforcement officers to provide a safe environment for workers, shoppers, clients, visitors, and residents.

To ensure that the region’s residents, as well as tourists, visitors, and potential investors are aware of Downtown’s unique attractions and importance to the region’s economy, Wilmington Downtown promotes Downtown using multiple platforms. Through news media contacts, press releases, a newsletter, web site, social media, and other means, Wilmington Downtown collaborates with tourism, economic development, and cultural organizations to promote Downtown throughout North Carolina and across the nation as an attractive visitor destination and business location.

To maintain a healthy and diverse central business district, WDI helps retailers and other Downtown businesses by assisting with regulatory and financing issues, parking and public safety, events, and promotion. WDI also produces two Downtown Economic Series events annually to highlight our projects and progress.

Through our knowledge of Downtown real estate, development trends and ownership patterns, WDI can help prospective investors identify optimum locations for shops, offices, residences, or hotels. We work on a free and confidential basis to help identify sites for acquisition, location, or development.

Downtown has many constituencies, whose interests sometimes diverge retailers, residents, commercial property owners, office tenants, restaurants and nightclubs, government agencies, shoppers, diners, and tourists. To help these groups find common ground, to help local government communicate with private interests, and to help represent private interests before government agencies is an essential role for Wilmington Downtown.