Is there a Cook Out coming to Chapel Hill? Burger chain’s latest move shows interest.
The days of driving to Durham or Mebane for Cook Out’s freshly grilled burgers and custom-made shakes may soon be over.
A new corporation, 450 S. Elliott Rd. Inc., paid $2 million on April 27 for the 1.7-acre Burger King lot on South Elliott Road in Chapel Hill, county land records showed. The 2,250-square-foot restaurant was built in 1971.
Morris Reaves, the founder of Cook Out, and his son Jeremy Reaves, who now runs the company, are the men behind 450 S. Elliott Rd., according to N.C. Secretary of State records. They bought the Burger King lot from Chapel Hill-based 488 Properties Inc., which paid roughly $1 million for it in 2008, land records show.
The existing Burger King restaurant remains open but is slated to close, a Burger King spokesperson said in an email.
“This was a planned closure, and the franchisee of this location has offered all team members transfers to surrounding Burger King restaurants,” the spokesperson said.
Chapel Hill planning and economic development officials said they do not have any information about Cook Out’s plans for the site.
The company opened its first Cookout in Greensboro in 1989, and it now has over 250 restaurants in 10 states.
The Chapel Hill location would be at the southwestern corner of Elliott Road and Fordham Boulevard, where construction crews are completing a new intersection and the Elliott Road extension to Ephesus Church Road. The Burger King is located just outside the town’s Blue Hill District, where projects are fast-tracked and don’t require Town Council approval.
However, the lot is zoned for community commercial development and has an existing drive-through — a rare commodity in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. That means a new restaurant that meets the existing zoning might only need the approval of town staff.
Cook Out also made headlines in Hillsborough last year when it bought a former bank on Millstone Drive near the Waterstone neighborhood. Planning and Economic Development Manager Shannan Campbell said no plans for the Hillsborough site have been submitted to the town.
Cook Out officials have not responded to The News & Observer’s requests for comment.
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 11:32 AM.
