Charlotte’s Grubb Properties adds apartment high-rise to plans for downtown Chapel Hill
A Charlotte developer working with the town to redefine part of downtown Chapel Hill has proposed a seven-story apartment building a couple of blocks from the UNC-Chapel Hill campus.
Grubb Properties has submitted a concept plan to build Link Apartments Rosemary at the northeastern corner of East Rosemary and North Columbia streets.
A concept plan is a rough sketch of what could be built and is not an official application. The Community Design Commission will offer feedback on June 14 for how to make the project better.
The council also reviews concept plans but does not vote on them.
The proposed project would replace a two-story PNC bank building and a parking lot at 101 E. Rosemary St. with 140 apartments. A fitness center, bike center, clubhouse and leasing office could be located around a courtyard on the building’s ground floor.
While apartments can be built on the corner, the current zoning limits new buildings to four stories. The Town Council would be asked to approve a conditional zoning permit to allow the taller building.
The 0.64-acre site is next to the Rosemary Street parking deck, which the town plans to demolish this year and replace with a new 1,100-space parking deck. The town acquired the deck from Grubb Properties last year as part of a land swap for the town’s Wallace Parking Deck at 150 E. Rosemary St.
Grubb Properties also planning office building
Grubb Properties plans to demolish the Wallace deck once the town opens its new parking deck and replace it with a six-story building offering office and wet lab space. The developer also is renovating the former CVS building at 137 E. Franklin St. and 136 E. Rosemary St. to create an Innovation Hub.
Grubb’s office projects will be flanked by two parks on East Rosemary Street: one across from the town’s new parking deck and one at the corner of East Rosemary and Henderson streets.
The apartment plan does not include any parking, relying instead on spaces that Grubb Properties plans to rent in the town’s new parking deck. The building also would be on the town’s future North-South bus-rapid transit route.
When completed, the developments planned for the 100 block of East Rosemary Street could transform nearly the entire block into a live, work and play community. Only a few properties north of East Rosemary Street could remain undeveloped, although projects have been proposed in the past for one of the properties across from the Wallace deck.
UNC and the startups and research companies that it generates could be tenants in the new office buildings. Town and university officials announced a new partnership in March — the Carolina Economic Development Strategy — aimed at spurring innovation and entrepreneurship, revitalizing downtown and boosting economic development.
This story was originally published June 7, 2021 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Charlotte’s Grubb Properties adds apartment high-rise to plans for downtown Chapel Hill."
