Holden Beach Pier still for sale

HOLDEN BEACH -- On a warm Friday evening in August, the Holden Beach Fishing Pier is a busy place. Anglers are purchasing supplies, and vacationers are stopping by for ice cream and a moonlight stroll.

The 510-foot-long pier has been a fixture on Holden Beach since 1959 -- ten years before Holden Beach was incorporated as a town. But with the pier currently on the market, its future is very much in question.

According to a brochure from Wilmington-based Cape Fear Commercial, the pier and it’s adjacent parcels, which include a 10-room motel and an RV park, are up for sale. The eight parcels total more than 4 acres, with about 735 feet of beach frontage.

While the property is not yet under contract, property owner Guilford Bass said a potential buyer is considering the site.

“Hopefully, something will break in the near future,” he said.

The parcels are zoned residential, which permits single and multi-family residential uses, and commercial, which permits a variety of uses including both hotel and retail.

No price is listed for the property. Bass said that he hopes to get between $5 and $6 million if the eight parcels are sold together, but will consider selling them separately. According to Brunswick County property records, the main parcel of the pier property had a taxable value of $1,087,950 and a total value of $2,082,380, the lion’s share of which comes from the land.

While he couldn’t say exactly what the potential buyer’s intentions were, he did note that it probably wouldn’t be to operate a fishing pier because of the time it would take to get return on the investment.

“That would take a long, long time,” Bass said. “It would probably need a developer to buy it.”

He added that at this point, it’s all speculation, since no one really knows what will become of the iconic pier. He did note that state law would allow for someone to keep the structure and make it a private pier.

When Bass made the decision to sell the property in 2016, he first offered it to the town. The Holden Beach Board of Commissioners ultimately voted against purchasing it in late 2016. Bass finally put it on the market in October 2018, and he knows that finding a buyer could take time.

“We have some people looking at it, of course,” he said. “But it takes a little while to sell something like this. It’s not like buying a house.”

If Holden Beach loses the pier, it would join Caswell Beach and Bald Head Island as not having its own pier. In New Hanover County, Wrightsville, Carolina and Kure beaches all have piers, as do Surf City and Topsail Beach in Pender County.

Since the pier hit the market, residents have been quick to express their feelings and speculation about the sale on social media. Bass said he was visiting Lumberton over the weekend, and when he stopped for a cup of coffee, he was asked about several rumors.

“Everything in the world is out there, and none of it’s true,” Bass said. “Right now, it’s still just for sale. There’s nothing new. But hopefully, there will be in the next three months.”

Reporter Renee Spencer can be reached at 910-343-2364 or at RSpencer@StarNewsOnline.com.