After nearly a decade of silence, work is underway on the former Wilmington Kmart building.
Wilmington’s longstanding Kmart building, located at 815 S. College Road, has sat vacant since the store closed in 2017. The closure was announced alongside the shuttering of dozens of locations nationwide before the company filed for bankruptcy the following year. In the nine years since, there has been hardly any activity at the property, valued at $9,032,000 according to New Hanover County property records.
In recent months, work has quietly been underway on renovations. The building’s roof has been replaced, according to building permit applications submitted to the county. The work was inspected in October 2025 but requires a re-inspection. The project cost is listed at $1,068,923. The application states that there is no change to the proposed use of the building…