Who Really Owns the Circle? What's Changing at Atlantic Beach's Busiest Beach Access

The big parking lots at the Atlantic Beach Circle belong to a private developer. "There's a public perception that it's public parking, the town owns it, but we don't," Town Manager John O'Daniel told WCTI 12 in February.

Ownership shapes more than parking. The Town of Atlantic Beach has three projects underway around Atlantic Boulevard: a new stage, a rebuilt bathhouse and, back across the bridge, a soundside fishing pier. A private developer is planning a fourth. How fast each one moves depends on who holds the deed and what that deed says.

A district with two owners

The Circle's land has changed hands twice in the past two decades. FMB Inc., the construction company owned by local developer Fred Bunn, bought most of the Circle properties from the town in 2005. In 2023 the town bought two beachside lots back, according to county property records cited by the Carteret County News-Times.

The buyback came with a condition. The deeds for both lots give FMB Inc. the right to approve future building plans on them, so whatever goes there matches FMB's development of the surrounding properties. The town owns that ground, but it can't build on it alone.

Here is how the main parcels in the current plans line up:

Every project below starts from this map.

The Grove sits on FMB's own land, and it has no start date

The Town Council approved the major site plan for The Grove at its February 16, 2026 meeting. The plan calls for two multistory buildings at 100 and 110 Atlantic Blvd. with about 8,000 square feet of commercial space and 29 residential units. It also includes eight condominium units with about 1,295 square feet of additional commercial space. WCTI 12 reported that the buildings would include golf-cart parking and residential storage.

This land is FMB's outright, so the town doesn't control when building starts. O'Daniel told WCTI that the property owner, not the town, is leading the project. He added that the owner "has always been generous to allow the public to use it. Now he's decided it's time for him to develop it."

Parking is where most people will feel it. O'Daniel said the number of public spaces will drop once construction begins, but the size of the drop depends on how FMB phases the work. "We just don't know by how much or what phase they're going to build," he said. When WCTI reported the story in February, there was no timeline for construction. No start date has been published since.

Shops along the boulevard are paying attention. WCTI noted that Patricia Davis's family has run Davis Beachwear on Atlantic Boulevard since 1951, and that business owners nearby are watching how parking changes could affect foot traffic.

This past summer, the lots ran on the town's usual paid system. The town's parking page lists the 2026 paid season as April 1 through September 30. Enforcement ran 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at $5 an hour, with Pivot Parking as the operator. The paid locations included the Circle Point Grass Lot, the Circle Pavilion Paved Lot, the east and west Circle gravel and dirt lots, and the Circle perimeter streets. The News-Times had reported the same $5 rate and 9-to-5 hours for the season before, along with a discounted Carteret County resident pass at $150 instead of $200, sold from April 1 to April 9. For 2026, the town page put the discounted pass window at March 18–31.

Even the town's stage goes through FMB

The town's own Circle improvements began in 2025. Phase I was a $74,500 contract awarded to S.F. Ballou of Morehead City in March 2025 to replace two cobblestone alley walkways. Phase II remodeled the existing bathhouse that same year. Phase III, the last one, is the most visible: a permanent event stage.

At its Aug. 13 work session, the council reached informal consensus on a design: a circular concrete stage with shade sails and seating around it, the News-Times reported. O'Daniel brought three layouts. Council chose to put the stage at 141 Atlantic Blvd., near Davis Beachwear and Boutique, and the seating at 121 Atlantic Blvd., near Tackle Box Tavern.

The stage shows the two-owner arrangement more clearly than anything else. FMB's parcel at 131 Atlantic Blvd. sits between the stage lot and the seating lot. The designs themselves came from Errol Warren, Bunn's architect, and had been before the council since January. Councilmember Harry Archer said O'Daniel would take the approved design to Bunn for sign-off, since Bunn owns the neighboring properties and the festival easement. O'Daniel told the News-Times that FMB had to approve the design under its own standards, "but beyond that, the stage will be built on property that the town owns."

The schedule is a goal, not a commitment. As of August, the town had no cost estimate, clear timeline or list of required permits. The town's August newsletter said it hopes to have construction done in time for the Atlantic Beach Music Festival next May. In September, the News-Times reported that Cullipher Group was still preparing a proposal for the stage, so costs and timing were still open.

The bathhouse waits on the state

Of the Circle projects, the bathhouse has the most detailed plan, and the main gate it still has to clear is a state one. Council unanimously approved Cullipher Group of Morehead City to handle design and permitting, the News-Times reported. The vote came at the September 28, 2026 meeting, for the facility at 207 West Atlantic Blvd.

The plan replaces and relocates the current facilities. It takes the restroom count from eight to 12 or 16, replaces the septic system and possibly expands its capacity, and enlarges the nearby 64-space parking lot. Cullipher's bid, the lowest submitted on Sept. 2, caps the preliminary work at $103,000:

• Design and permitting, $85,000: a new building footprint and structure, a boardwalk redesigned for accessibility, a state stormwater permit, and a major Coastal Area Management Act permit because the building is so close to the beach
• Bid solicitation and contract administration, $17,000: seeking construction bids, administering contracts, inspections and certifying the build
• Miscellaneous, $1,000: printing, shipping and similar costs

The price went down before the vote. At the Aug. 13 work session, O'Daniel had presented a broader $165,100 proposal from Stroud Engineering of Morehead City, and the council held off over the cost. Mayor Pro Tempore Harry Archer said Cullipher's offer was "significantly less than we started out with."

Here the timing depends on Raleigh more than on FMB. The project may need a CAMA variance from the state's Coastal Resources Commission if the permit is denied or comes back with restrictive conditions. Council has already authorized O'Daniel to amend the contract if that extra work becomes necessary.

Across the bridge, the pier has its own second party

The town's fourth project sits on the sound side, at the foot of the bridge, and it has a partner of its own to answer to. The bridge abutment site already has ADA-compliant public fishing access just west of the town bridge. The final phase of that project adds a fishing pier at least 200 feet long, the News-Times reported.

In April, the council unanimously approved a contract with Greenville-based Stroud Engineering, along with estimated costs and a timeline for building the pier. It also moved $1.69 million from the town's fund balance to buy 801 and 803 Atlantic Beach Causeway, the properties next to the abutment. O'Daniel said at the time that "some of this is above and beyond what we had in our original budget." After that purchase, O'Daniel offered the council the option of moving the pier onto the new parcels. That would have avoided North Carolina Department of Transportation requirements, but it would have meant more underwater surveys. Councilmembers kept the pier at its original location, which still depends on an updated lease agreement with NCDOT. Either site needed a CAMA major permit, a process that typically takes nine months. Planning Director Elisabeth Webster said the pier's proposed 10-foot width is what put it in the major permit category. If it follows the timeline in that April agenda item, the town could solicit bids by late January 2027.

Taken together, the four projects line up the same way. The Grove will start whenever FMB decides to build. The stage needs FMB's sign-off on the town's own lots. The bathhouse is waiting on state coastal permits. The pier is waiting on a lease from NCDOT and a CAMA major permit.

If you own property near the Circle and want to know how The Grove, the stage or a rebuilt bathhouse could affect your home or your rental calendar, Copeland & Bernauer Real Estate Team is happy to go through it with you. We can also put together an instant home valuation that accounts for what's planned at the Circle.