The Figure Eight Island Yacht Club pool is closed for the season and won't reopen until 2027. The Helm now serves dinner five nights a week, Wednesday through Sunday. Across the bridge, the stretch of Market Street through Porters Neck has added new places since June, and restaurant week starts this Friday. On October 1, the island's homeowners association goes before the New Hanover County Planning Board. It is asking to rezone part of its mainland parcel on Edgewater Club Road for an office building.
These read like three separate updates, but they all point the same way. The island has no commercial development, so a resident's week is split between the club and the mainland strip beyond the gate. The club sits at 15 Bridge Road. This fall, more of that week sits on the mainland side, and the HOA's own plans now do too.
The Club's Fall Week, Night by Night
The September 30 issue of the club's Weekly Currents sets out the fall schedule. Weekend brunch is back, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dinner at The Helm runs Wednesday through Sunday, 6 to 9 p.m. Two dates in the first half of October break from that pattern:
| Date | At the Yacht Club |
|---|---|
| Saturday, Oct. 3 | Clubhouse closed for a private event, no à la carte dinner |
| Thursday, Oct. 8 | Five-course Peay Vineyards wine dinner, 6 p.m. welcome, 6:30 p.m. dinner |
| Wednesday to Sunday | Dinner at The Helm, 6 to 9 p.m. |
| Saturday and Sunday | Brunch, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| Monday and Tuesday | No dinner service listed |
Those gaps in the table are the points where the week moves across the bridge. Mondays and Tuesdays have no club dinner, and on the first Saturday of the month The Helm has no regular service. What's open on the mainland on those nights is what decides how the week works.
Market Street Picking Up the Slack
The biggest recent addition is Concorde Espresso Bar's second location, at 8121 Market St. in Porters Neck. Port City Daily reported on July 1 that it had opened after a launch weekend of roughly 1,200 visitors. The original location is downtown. This one has a 40-seat dining room styled as a private-jet cabin, an outdoor courtyard with fire pits, and an upstairs lounge.
Its hours closely track the club's. According to Port City Daily, Concorde opens at 7:30 a.m. and runs until 9 p.m. on Sunday, 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Like The Helm, it is closed Monday and Tuesday. That means Concorde won't fill the early-week gap. It does give a weekend option that's open two hours past The Helm's last seating, and a morning coffee stop in Porters Neck instead of downtown.
Restaurant Week Lands on the Club's Dark Saturday
Port City Taste, the fall restaurant week, runs from October 2 to 11. That puts its first Saturday on October 3, the night the clubhouse is closed for a private event. Three participants are within a short drive of the bridge:
- Bridgewater Wines + Dines, 178 Porters Neck Road
- Cornelia's Restaurant, 980 Roadhouse Circle in Porters Neck
- Nineteen at Olde Point Country Club, 513 Country Club Drive in Hampstead
Restaurant week spans two weekends and a full workweek. It also covers October 8, when the Yacht Club holds its Peay Vineyards dinner. On that Thursday, island residents have a planned five-course wine dinner at their own club and set menus at three mainland restaurants in the same evening.
Thursdays in Hampstead, Weekends at Poplar Grove
Thursday is the one night of the week where both calendars line up. Ironclad Golf & Beer Garden is at 2368 Country Club Drive in Hampstead. It hosts the Hampstead Farmers Market every Thursday in October: the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th. The listing for October 22 gives the hours as 4 to 7 p.m. The market closes an hour after The Helm opens. That leaves time to shop in Hampstead and still get back to Bridge Road for dinner, including on October 8.
Poplar Grove, at 10200 US Highway 17 North, has scheduled most of its October on weekends. Its calendar lists Haunted Rooms paranormal investigations on October 3–4, 17–18 and 24–25, and Paranormal Ghost Tours on October 10 and October 31. The Wilmington and Beaches visitor listing shows separate ghost hunts on October 3 and 17, running from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Poplar Grove's calendar page doesn't show when it was last updated, so check times with the venue before you go. October 3 now has three mainland events on one evening: a restaurant week Saturday, a ghost hunt at Poplar Grove, and Concorde open until 11 p.m.
The HOA's Own Calendar Points the Same Way
The most consequential October date for island owners isn't on the club's calendar or a restaurant's. On Thursday, October 1, at 5 p.m., the New Hanover County Planning Board meets in Room 301 of the Historic Courthouse at 24 North Third Street. Item 2 on its agenda is case Z26-11, titled "Figure 8 Office & Maintenance Building."
According to the published notice, Cindee Wolf of Design Solutions, LLC filed the application on behalf of David Kellam, manager of Figure 8 Beach HOA, Inc., which owns the property. The request is to rezone about 2.21 acres of a 6.72-acre parcel at 1275 Edgewater Club Road from R-20 Residential to (CZD) CB Community Business. The stated use is "Offices for Private Business and Professional Activities." The StarNews reported on September 24 that the site is between Beachcomber Court and Final Landing Lane, near the island. The paper said the rezoning could allow new facilities to serve the island. The HOA's website lists Kellam as Island Administrator. Residents already deal with that office for things like 2026 low-speed-vehicle decals.
Some things are still unknown. The case title includes the word "maintenance," but the public notice only lists the office use. We did not review the staff report or site plan, and the HOA's reasons aren't stated in the notice. Nothing here should be read as a description of what would be built. The notice says the board "may consider substantial changes to petitions" based on discussion at the meeting. The full application is available through the county's Development Activity page at PlanNHC.com. Written comments go through planning.nhcgov.com/comments and are due by 8 a.m. on October 1. The meeting will be shown live on NHCTV, Spectrum channel 13 and Charter channel 5. The outcome hadn't been decided as of September 30. A Planning Board hearing isn't the last step in the process either, so owners will want to follow the case after Thursday.
Two Openings Announced, Not Yet Confirmed
Two more additions to the corridor have been announced but not confirmed. Port City Daily reported on August 19 that Brasato Chophouse, a 100-seat Italian steakhouse at 7968 Market St. near Marsh Oaks, planned to open by September 15, serving lunch and dinner seven days a week. We found no later report confirming it opened. If it keeps those hours, it would serve dinner on Monday and Tuesday, the two nights the Yacht Club calendar leaves open.
Seoul Sushi also announced a Hampstead location at Oyster Creek Landing, 43 Shuckin Street. Port City Daily's September 3 story gave the opening date as Tuesday, Sept. 8 in the article and Tuesday, Sept. 9 in a photo caption. We found no confirmation that it opened, so call ahead before planning an evening around it.
The Edgewater Club Road rezoning matters most to owners who are thinking about how island services are run and what they cost, or how the mainland side of the bridge might change. The Nick Phillips Group follows Figure Eight HOA business and the Porters Neck corridor closely, and we're glad to share what we hear as Z26-11 moves forward. If you'd like to talk through how an application like this could affect your property, Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
