Project will add condos, offices

Carrboro seeing mixed-use trend

CARRBORO -- Another multistory building that will combine residential and commercial space will be coming downtown.

Tuesday night, the Board of Aldermen granted developers of Roberson Square a permit to build the five-story structure at Roberson and South Greensboro streets, on certain conditions.

Roberson Square will have condominiums on the top three floors, and shops and offices on the bottom two floors. The project at 203 S. Greensboro St., across from Open Eye Cafe, will be 91,575 square feet and will include 18 condominiums. Three of the condominiums are being designated affordable units.

Plans show two elevators will go from the underground parking garage to the top floor. Only the building's first two floors will be visible from the sidewalk. The rest of the building will step back gradually to reach the fifth floor. The property will have a 10-foot sidewalk on Roberson Street, with 5 feet of trees, shrubs and grass.

At the last public hearing, several people, including downtown business owners, said the project's plans don't include enough parking spaces. Some said lack of parking downtown hurts their businesses, and since Roberson Square will bring more people downtown, it should provide more parking as well.

Initially, the builders had planned 65 underground parking spaces and eight on-street parking spaces. An ordinance requires 104 spaces if restaurants are included in the plans.

But Tuesday night, David Ripperton, an architect for Roberson Square developer Darcon of N.C., told the board that the developers agree not to include restaurants in the plans, which decreases the number of parking spaces required.

The new plans show the property will have 65 underground parking spaces -- 29 of them for residents of Roberson Square -- and seven public, on-street parking spaces along Carr Street. The board is also trying to lower the speed limit on Carr Street.

The board has a vision of a downtown where people live, work and play, with more mixed-use buildings of no more than five stories.

Roberson Square is the third in a line of projects recently approved by the Board of Aldermen that will change the face of downtown.

The Alberta is a four-story building that will be mostly condominiums with retail space on half of the ground floor. A second project is the first phase of the 300 E. Main St. development, which will be a five-story commercial building with offices, retail and restaurants and associated parking at 200 E. Main St.