Dozens of developments are changing Chapel Hill. Here is a look.
Visitors, UNC alumni and even residents may not recognize parts of Chapel Hill once a bevy of new apartments, offices and retail spaces are built.
The town has multiple projects under construction and more pending Town Council or Community Design Commission approval. Much is redevelopment, especially downtown and in the town’s Blue Hill District, where decades-old parking decks and buildings are being replaced with taller, more modern construction.
Each project is assigned to a Technical Review Team of roughly 40 staff members and a case planner who manages the process, which can take takes 1 1/2 to 2 years and can include staff, advisory board and Town Council reviews.
It can add up to a lot of hours for the roughly 14 full-time employees in the town’s Planning Department and for others in the fire department, public works, stormwater and traffic engineering, planning director Colleen Willger said.
“At every level, from staff, advisory boards and commissions, to Council, the Town is experiencing a challenging volume of work,” Willger told The News & Observer in an email.
Here are some of the projects under review or construction:
Blue Hill District
▪ Park Apartments
Address: 1250 Ephesus Church Road
Project description: Phase 1 is adding 308 apartments, four buildings and a 500-space parking deck to the 13-acre site. Phase 2 will add 106 apartments and eight buildings. The project also will include 207 bike parking spaces
Being replaced: The Park at Chapel Hill, built in 1966, had 198 apartments in multiple two-story buildings. Rents that started at $650 a month made it one of the town’s most affordable options.
Transportation changes: Elliott Road Extension is under construction between Ephesus Church Road, Fordham Boulevard and South Elliott Road. A roundabout will be built on Ephesus Church Road at the Kings Arms Apartments, completing part of the planned Blue Hill District transportation network. Sidewalks and bike lanes.
Affordable housing: The developer paid $1.5 million to the town’s affordable housing fund.
Updates: Construction is underway on the apartments, the roundabout on Ephesus Church Road, and the Elliott Road Extension, which bisects the site. Expected completion in 2023.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/article229635829.html
▪ Millennium Chapel Hill
Address: 1301 Fordham Blvd.
Project description: Millennium Chapel Hill is 3.9 acres, 274 apartments and 28 short-term lodging units. The five-story building will wrap around a six-story parking deck, accessible via the future Legion Road Extension. Aura Blue Hill, now being reviewed by the town’s Community Design Commission, or another future project could build the rest of the extension to Fordham Boulevard. Aura only needs Community Design Commission and town manager approval because it’s in the town’s Blue Hill District.
Transportation changes: A new driveway on Ephesus Church Road at Legion Road could become a future Legion Road Extension to Fordham Boulevard. New bike lanes and sidewalks.
Being replaced: The two-story University Inn hotel built in the late 1960s. It closed in 2019.
Updates: The Community Design Commission approved the project in May, and construction has started.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article248786210.html
▪ Trilogy Chapel Hill
Address: 1000 Novus Lane (1730 Fordham Blvd.)
Project description: Trilogy (formerly Hillstone) has 323 apartments in two buildings. One five-story building wraps a parking deck and faces Fordham Boulevard; the other building is four stories with parking underneath, facing Legion Road.
Being replaced: A vacant Crown Honda-Volvo automotive dealership and service center
Getting around: Novus Lane was built through the site, connecting the Service Road off Fordham Boulevard with Legion Road. New bike lanes and sidewalks.
Updates: The apartments are being leased.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/community/chapel-hill-news/article86851007.html
▪ Aura Blue Hill
Address: 1289 Fordham Blvd.
Project description: 274 apartments and 23,083 square feet of ground-floor commercial space in two, six-story buildings. One building would step down from six to four stories along Ephesus Church Road, with a rooftop terrace for events. Includes a seven-story, 409-space parking deck. On 2.76 acres near the intersection of Fordham Boulevard and Ephesus Church Road.
Being replaced: A small home, Chapel Hill Baptist Church, and a two-story brick building housing The UPS Store, Domino’s and other small businesses.
Transportation changes: Would build the second section of the new Legion Road Extension between Ephesus Church Road and Fordham Boulevard. The first section is part of the Millennium Chapel Hill project at the Ephesus Church Road-Fordham Boulevard intersection. Another connection would use the roundabout at the Park at Chapel Hill apartments under construction to the south. Pedestrian and bike connections.
Updates: The Community Design Commission is reviewing the project, which also needs the town manager’s approval. A CDC decision is expected by January.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article255318001.html
Downtown Chapel Hill
▪ East Rosemary Parking Deck
Address: 125 E. Rosemary St.
Project description: The town is building an 1,100-space, six-story public parking deck on 1.6 acres. Includes a ground-floor retail porch with space for food trucks and pop-up businesses, and a public park in the lower part of the Rosemary-Columbia parking lot. Part of a land swap and economic development venture between Grubb Properties and the town.
Being replaced: Two formerly private tracts: The 276-space CVS deck and a parking lot.
Transportation changes: New sidewalks, a midblock pedestrian crossing on East Rosemary Street, and driveways on East Rosemary Street and North Street.
Updates: Demolition completed this summer. Crews are starting construction. Completion is estimated for 2022.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article253109943.html
▪ The Central
Address: 136 E. Rosemary St. and 137 E. Franklin St.
Project description: The former CVS building (The Central) is being redeveloped using federal Opportunity Zone tax credits into an Innovation Hub with modern office space. The 0.65-acre project includes a CVS store on East Franklin Street and 118,500 square feet of offices.
Bigger picture: Grubb Properties is working with the town to transform East Rosemary Street into a live-work-play corridor. The CVS renovation and the construction of the 125 E. Rosemary St. parking deck are underway. The Town Council is reviewing 150 East Rosemary, a 132-foot-tall building with 238,000 square feet of office and research space. It would replace the Wallace Parking Deck at Henderson and East Rosemary streets. Another Grubb proposal — Link Apartments Rosemary — would bring 151 apartments and seven stories to the corner of Rosemary and Columbia streets.
Updates: Construction is underway.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article245612435.html
▪ 150 East Rosemary
Address: 150 E. Rosemary St.
Project description: Grubb Properties could build a 238,000-square-foot office and research building on the site of the Wallace Parking Deck. The proposed building would be 132 feet tall, including a 20-foot-tall mechanical penthouse. It would have ground-floor retail space, offices and wet labs, and a three-level, 158-space parking garage under the building. A 7,000-square-foot park is planned for the corner of East Rosemary and Henderson streets.
Updates: The council approved the project in December. The final building plans and permits are under review now.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article255899941.html
▪ Porthole Alley
Address: 128-138 E. Franklin St.
Project description: The Porthole Alley project could add ground-floor retail spaces, with offices for the UNC Visitors Center, Undergraduate Admissions and other university programs. A concept plan has two buildings connected via a skybridge and two green, public courtyards.
The building’s owners — UNC, the state and the not-for-profit Chapel Hill Foundation Real Estate Holdings Inc. — have said the plan will preserve and renovate the historic Hill Building at 138 E. Franklin St. Two adjacent buildings, the Porthole Building on campus, and the parking lot behind the Hill Building would be redeveloped, with three stories on Franklin Street and taller construction in the back.
Being replaced: The Hill Building’s main tenant, Carolina Coffee Shop, would remain. Other businesses, including Johnny T-Shirt and Cosmic Cantina, would have to relocate.
Updates: Public updates were held in November. The town and UNC will hold more public meetings and hearings when an official application is submitted.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article255675081.html
▪ Rosemary-Columbia Hotel
Address: 108 and 114 W. Rosemary St., and 205 N. Columbia St.
Project description: A 92,500-square-foot Smart Hotels boutique hotel with up to 135 rooms on 1.3 acres. The L-shaped building would be four stories on West Rosemary Street, rising to five stories for most of the building. Along North Columbia Street, the building also would step down to four stories. It would wrap around the historic Old Town Hall.
It would include a rooftop bar and an 8,180-square-foot town-owned park.
Transportation changes: A driveway circles the back of the building, from Rosemary Street to a right-turn-only lane onto Columbia Street. A second right-in, right-out Columbia Street driveway would serve the hotel dropoff, parking garage and the Old Town Hall.
Being replaced: Two small, one-story buildings and multiple parking lots.
Updates: The Town Council approved the project Nov. 17. The developer needs final permits and building plan approvals.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article255707371.html
▪ Link Apartments Rosemary
Address: 101 E. Rosemary St.
Project description: Grubb Properties submitted a plan for a seven-story building with up to 150 apartments and a small amount of ground-floor commercial space at the northeastern corner of East Rosemary and North Columbia streets. The 0.64-acre project would not include parking, because it is on multiple Chapel Hill Transit routes and the future North-South bus-rapid transit corridor. It also sits beside the town’s new 1,100-space parking deck.
Being replaced: A vacant, two-story PNC bank building and parking lot
Updates: The council reviewed a concept plan in June and a conditional zoning application was submitted in July. Advisory board reviews are tentatively set for January, with a council review in January or February.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article251912293.html
▪ Amity 5
Address: 318-326 W. Rosemary St.
Project description: Five four-story, 19,999-square-foot buildings are planned — one for each of the five lots that make up the former Breadmen’s site. This project meets the current zoning requirements and will not need council review, after years of unsuccessful negotiations for other proposals between the former owners, residents and the town. A Raleigh student housing developer bought the nearly 1.3-acre site for $7.15 million earlier this year.
Being replaced: The former Breadmen’s restaurant, which was demolished last year after the business moved to Elliott Square on South Elliott Road.
Updates: Town staff is reviewing five site plans and could issue construction permits within a couple of weeks.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article249322395.html
Around town
▪ Glen Lennox
Address: N.C. 54 East and Fordham Boulevard
Project description: The town approved a 20-year development agreement in 2014 to build new apartments, offices, retail and a hotel on half — 70 acres — of this 1950s-era community, east of the UNC campus. In 2019, the town gave incentives to developer Grubb Properties to offset the cost of constructing the first office building.
At full buildout, Glen Lennox could have up to 1,500 new apartments, up to 150,000 square feet of commercial space, up to 600,000 square feet of office space, and 150 hotel rooms. Other features include public greenways, open spaces, parks, and residential recreational amenities.
Affordable housing: Rent increases are limited for residents who have lived at Glen Lennox for at least five years. Lower-income tenants also can take advantage of a master leasing program, which leases some units at market rate to a housing agency or other leaseholder, who then subleases the apartments to approved tenants at a cheaper rate.
Transportation changes: New lanes, traffic lights and pedestrian crossings have been added to Fordham Boulevard. More are expected, including new neighborhood roads, better connections to Fordham and N.C. 54, and transit, bike and pedestrian facilities.
Being replaced: Decades-old, single-story apartments. The plan preserves the single-family homes on the eastern property line and the Glen Lennox shopping center.
Updates: The 215-unit Link Apartments Linden, 106,000-square-foot Gwendolyn office building, five-story parking deck, and a clubhouse and pool at Brandon and Flemington roads are wrapping up. The second phase — Link Apartments Calyx, a seven-story building with 304 apartments and a parking deck — has been approved for construction.
▪ Aspen Heights
Address: East Longview Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Project description: Aspen Heights Partners submitted plans for a 124,000-square-foot, six-story student apartment building across the street from the Grove Park and Union Chapel Hill student apartment complexes. The 1.8-acre project includes 112 apartments and 73 parking deck spaces.
Transportation changes: MLK Jr. Boulevard is a major transit corridor and a key piece of the town’s future North-South bus-rapid transit route.
Being replaced: Two homes and the now-closed Johnson’s Garage and auto parts store, built in the 1950s.
Updates: A conditional zoning application has been submitted and is under staff review.
Read more: townofchapelhill.org/government/departments-services/planning/development-activity-report/aspen-heights
▪ Aura Chapel Hill
Address: North Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Project description: Trinsic Residential Group is expected to build 361 apartments, 55 townhomes, and 12,450 square feet for retail, restaurant and offices on 14.7 acres at the corner of Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Affordable housing: Aura will have eight townhomes for sale to those earning up to 80% of the area median income — $48,400 a year for an individual and $69,120 for a family of four. Nine apartments for rent to those earning up to 80% AMI, and 20 more for rent at 65% AMI — $39,325 for an individual and $56,160 for a family of four. Section 8 vouchers accepted.
Public amenities: Over 3 acres of green space, including a central plaza with fenced-in playground, a Central Park for activities and events, and a Woodlands natural area around a stream on the site’s eastern edge.
Being replaced: A longtime tree farm harvested in 2018
Transportation changes: New traffic lanes on Estes Drive and MLK Jr. Boulevard, bike lanes, sidewalks and greenway connections. A future North-South bus-rapid transit station, and 650 surface, underground and garage parking spaces. Money set aside for future Somerset Drive traffic light.
Updates: Council approved the project in late June, and town staff is reviewing final construction plans. The developer is expected to submit revised plans before getting the required permits. Construction could start by summer 2022.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article252415453.html
▪ University Place
Address: 201 S. Estes Drive
Project description: Ram Realty Advisors will demolish some of the existing mall — where Southern Season used to be — and replace it with a central green space. Multistory buildings are planned for Willow Drive, Estes Drive and Fordham Boulevard, adding apartments, retail, offices and a hotel over several years. The mall’s interior-facing stores are being turned around to face the parking lot, and new green spaces and plazas, including a permanent home for the Chapel Hill Farmer’s Market, are expected.
The 43-acre site, at full buildout, could have roughly 500 apartments, 300,000 to 450,000 square feet of commercial space; 150,000 square feet for offices, and 150 hotel rooms. The developer has the option of using some of the residential space for retail and offices.
What will remain: Roughly 295,000 square feet of the existing mall, a gas station and banks, and the building housing Harris Teeter and Chapel Hill Tire.
Transportation changes: New turn lanes on Willow Drive and Fordham Boulevard. Internal streets added to the mall site, new sidewalks and bike lanes.
Updates: Ram Realty continues to create an outward-facing mall. Silverspot Cinema, Bartaco and other tenants are busy, while some longtime stores, including Chick-fil-A and Night Gallery, are closing. Town staff is reviewing final plans for the project’s first phase — an apartment building along Willow Drive, followed by improvements along Estes Drive and redevelopment of the mall’s eastern portion.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article252154893.html
▪ Erwin Road hotel and townhomes
Address: 100-110 Erwin Road
Project description: Summit Hospitality Group is expanding the Extended Stay Residence Inn Hotel at the corner of Erwin Road and Dobbins Drive. The 17.7-acre project will add a four-story building and 54 suites to the 108-suite hotel. It also will add 10 two- and three-story townhouse buildings next door.
Affordable housing: Four of the 52 townhouses will be priced for families earning up to 80% of the area median income — an individual earning up to $48,400 a year and a family of four earning up to $69,120. Another three townhomes could be priced at 65% of AMI, roughly $39,325 a year for an individual and $56,160 for a family of four.
Transportation changes: Sidewalks and a 30-foot easement along Dobbins Drive for a future greenway. The current entrance will become a right-in, right-out turn only, and a new driveway is planned north of the existing hotel entrance.
Updates: The council approved the project in November. Town staff is reviewing the final plans.
Read more:
newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article255706861.html
▪ Columbia Street Annex
Address: 1150 S. Columbia St.
Project description: A four-story building with up to 60 for-sale condominiums and roughly 3,000 square feet of commercial space on the northwestern corner of South Columbia Street and N.C. 54. Includes a street-level plaza and preserve on roughly 60% of the wooded site, across the street from Merritt’s Grill. A stream restoration project will create a public green space with trails.
Affordable housing: Nine condos will be affordably priced for families and individuals earning up to 80% of the area median income — an annual income of up to $50,900 a year for an individual and up to $72,700 a year for a family of four.
Transportation changes: 69 parking spaces under and behind the building, plus electric vehicle charging stations and conduit. The site is on a major Chapel Hill Transit bus line and the future North-South bus-rapid transit corridor. An existing pedestrian crosswalk will be updated and relocated. Also included are sidewalks, street lighting and “bike sharrows,” plus a $50,000 payment to the town for future crosswalks. A left turn lane is planned for the northbound side of South Columbia Street near Purefoy Road.
Updates: The council approved the 3.7-acre project in March. Staff is working with the developer to complete a traffic study before submitting the final plans for approval.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article250187970.html
Northern Chapel Hill
▪ Carraway Village
Address: 600 Carraway Crossing (off Eubanks Road)
Project description: Northwood Ravin has a plan for up to 837,000 square feet of apartments, retail, offices and hotel rooms on 55 acres at Eubanks Road, Interstate 40 and N.C. 86.
Apartments could be 43% to 75% of the project, including 50 affordable apartments. The town would get the affordable housing land if those units aren’t built by 2027. Between 15% and 44% of the project could be commercial space, including a hotel, and another 6% to 29% could be office space. A large Village Green is among the planned amenities.
Transportation changes: A $4.2 million road widening is complete, including new sidewalks and bike lanes. The town paid $1.3 million of the cost by delaying annexation and refunding some of the project’s new property taxes.
Updates: The first two phases added over 400 apartments and 8,800 square feet of retail, including Starbucks and Chick-Fil-A. A drive-in movie theater opened last year in a vacant field. Town staff are reviewing the final plans for a Putt-Putt Fun Center north of the drive-in theater and 207 more apartments. The town also has approved plans for a 125,898-square-foot self-storage building.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/article228828534.html
▪ Homestead Gardens
Address: 2200 Homestead Road
Project description: The town of Chapel Hill, Community Home Trust, Habitat for Humanity, CASA and UNC Horizons are building 115 to 126 townhouses, duplexes and apartments on 14.3 acres. The neighborhood will be priced for individuals and families earning from under $18,000 a year to over $100,000. It will include trails and a greenway, a basketball court and a new community garden.
Being replaced: Hope Gardens and the vacant Sports Art building
Transportation changes: A new driveway off Homestead Road. Bike lanes and sidewalks.
Updates: The project was approved in May, and town staff is awaiting final plans. Construction could start in early 2022.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article247448115.html
▪ Carolina Donor Services
Address: 1720 Millhouse Road
Project description: The first project for the town’s 60-acre light industrial, conditional zoning district is 56,000 square feet of office, clinic and lab space for Carolina Donor Services (now HonorBridge). The conditional zoning for the 9.7-acre site allows the organ and tissue recovery service to add up to 328,719 square feet of space in the future.
Being replaced: The land is undeveloped.
Updates: Crews broke ground on the project in March, and construction is underway. Completion is expected by summer 2022.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/business/article247735165.html
▪ Putt-Putt Fun Center
Address: 2200 Eubanks Road
Project description: A 19-acre Putt-Putt Fun Center and four-story, 86,400-square-foot self-storage building are planned behind Carraway Village on Eubanks Road. The roughly 16,500-square-foot center will include go-karts, laser tag, a mini-golf course, batting cages and an arcade. A 4,500-square-foot concession and cart pit building will serve the go-kart track.
Being replaced: The land is undeveloped.
Transportation changes: A new driveway will connect Eubanks and the Putt-Putt center through Carraway Village.
Updates: Town staff is waiting for a final plan application. The final review could take four to six months.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/business/article252319438.html
▪ Tar Heel Mobile Court
Address: 1200 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Project description: Stackhouse Properties is adding a four-story self-storage building and a new gas station and convenience store to the 13.9-acre site. The plan preserves up to 83 mobile homes for at least 15 years.
Being replaced: A vacant Marathon gas station and convenience store.
Housing: A four-year rental rate freeze is in place. When that expires, rates could be adjusted to within 5% of area rents every two years. Most Tar Heel families own their mobile homes and pay $450 to $500 a month to lease the lot. They now have 12-month leases.
Updates: The council approved the project in March in a split vote, and town staff is reviewing plans now to relocate some of the mobile homes on the property. That permit could be issued in the next week or two. Other phases of the project are under review.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article249834253.html
▪ Weavers Grove
Address: 7516 Sunrise Road
Project description: Habitat for Humanity of Orange County and private developers are building the mixed-income residential community in northern Chapel Hill, near East Chapel Hill High School. Weavers Grove includes 237 single family homes, townhouses, duplexes and condos, including 101 Habitat homes. Garman Homes and White Oak Properties will build the market-rate homes.
The neighborhood will include a community green with a pavilion and splash pad, walking trails, a dog park, playground and basketball court. Habitat also could add a community garden, community building, cafe and community garage
Being replaced: Several older, single-family homes
Updates: The council approved the project in June 2020, and town staff has signed off on the building permits. Habitat broke ground and began to install infrastructure, such as utility lines, in October 2021. Construction could begin by 2023 and be completed by 2028.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/article232694337.html
▪ St. Paul Village
Address: 1604 Purefoy Drive
Project description: St. Paul AME Church has a project approved in 2012 for a new sanctuary and fellowship hall, event space, retail, recreation, and 16 affordable and 71 market-rate housing units on the vacant 20.4-acre site in the Rogers-Eubanks neighborhood.
Affordable housing: The church has been working with Empowerment Inc., a nonprofit housing provider. It is considering 68 apartments priced at 80% of the area median income — up to $50,900 a year for an individual and $72,700 a year for a family of four. Another 20 apartments could be priced at 60% of AMI — $36,300 for an individual and $51,840 for a family of four.
Being replaced: A largely wooded tract of land
Updates: The church has asked for a permit modification allowing 350 apartments, including 100 apartments for senior residents. Buildings could be up to five stories, with lower heights along Purefoy Road. Additional retail space is planned, and up to 400 garage parking spaces and 150 dedicated senior spaces are possible.
Read more: newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/orange-county/article252256108.html
