By Laurin Penland
Wilmington, NC – A group of Wilmington developers have given up on the dream to restore the historic Jaffe building on Castle Street. The building and the land next to it are up for sale.
There isn't much left of the Jaffe building. Its brick shell stands tall on the corner of Eighth and Castle. Weeds have grown up inside the roofless walls. Even as just a shell and some steel beams, it is easy to imagine how beautiful the building once was.
Real estate developer, Gene Merritt says he had hoped to get a community medical center to lease the building.
"I share the same hopes with everyone else unfortunately we got caught up in the bad economy and things haven't worked out so far, but if we can find a good prospective tenant that wants to come in here and pay a decent amount of rent, we can still do the project."
Merritt and Peggy and Bud Dealey bought the building with help from a loan from the Historic Wilmington Foundation.
The building is now registered as a certified historic structure, but Merritt says this designation does not protect it from getting torn down. His hope is that potential buyers would want to preserve the building.
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