Chapel Hill to consider hundreds of new homes, daycare at Wednesday meeting
A 45-acre project that could go to a vote Wednesday could bring 705 apartments and for-sale townhomes to a strip of land between Weaver Dairy Road and Interstate 40 in Chapel Hill.
Also at the meeting, the Chapel Hill Town Council will consider the nearby Lightbridge project, which could add a daycare center and four townhomes to a small site at 1165 Weaver Dairy Road.
EB Capital Partners LLC is at least the third developer to try building on the long, narrow 860 Weaver Dairy Road site hugging I-40, which is limited by stream buffers and utility easements.
Two different plans for a neighborhood called Lullwater, with a site for future commercial space, raised concerns about density, stormwater runoff, tree loss, and increased traffic before being dropped.
The site is within walking distance of shops and restaurants, bus stops, and medical offices.
EB Capital developer Ernie Brown first submitted a concept plan for 860 Weaver Dairy in 2024, proposing 950 apartments, townhomes, duplexes and condos, with flexible commercial space.
The plan that the Town Council could vote on Wednesday has fewer apartments and for-sale townhomes. It would have future space that could be residential or commercial, but nothing is planned yet, Brown said in an email Wednesday.
“We’re wanting to wait and see how everything comes together, but the focus will be more of community space with family amenities that will pull [from] the entire area, not just this development,” he said.
Brown clarified that could be open space for activities, gatherings, and events with food trucks.
The project would be built in phases, with two five-story apartment buildings and a parking deck on the western side of the site, close to the Chapel Hill North apartments and shopping center. The parking deck would be positioned next to I-40.
The eastern side, which backs up to homes and the Carol Woods Retirement Community, could have townhomes and flexible space, with natural buffers backing up to adjacent neighborhoods. Access would be from Old University Station Road near Timberlyne shopping center and a new road between St. Benedict’s Anglican Church and the Coventry neighborhood.
The council held the first public hearing on the project in September. Wednesday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. at Chapel Hill Town Hall, 405 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. A meeting agenda and livestream link are available on the town’s website.
Stormwater, traffic concerns
- A stormwater analysis was submitted for the site, which neighbors say already floods their yards with runoff during heavy storms. It drains into the Booker Creek watershed farther downstream, affecting other neighborhoods and the Eastgate Crossing shopping center.
- The developer agreed to build stormwater measures for a 100-year storm, which is a rain event with a 1% chance of happening in a given year. The study found that could slightly improve some of the existing conditions.
- A traffic impact study considered a bigger project with 197 single-family homes, 525 multifamily homes, and a 90-room hotel. That project could add up to 4,427 daily trips to and from the site, the study found, mostly in the morning and evening.
- Traffic recommendations: Improve traffic light timing on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard at Perkins Drive and at Weaver Dairy Road; add a traffic light at the new Weaver Dairy Road driveway; and extend or add turn lanes at MLK Jr. Boulevard and Perkins Drive, Weaver Dairy Road driveway.
860 Weaver Dairy project details
- Location: 45 acres at 860 Weaver Dairy Road
- What’s there now: Largely wooded tract zoned for residential and mixed-use and office development.
- Proposed residential: 350 to 575 rental apartments in two five-story buildings with a parking deck; 100 to 130 for-sale townhomes, up to three and four stories tall
- Proposed commercial: Nothing planned yet, but activities, gatherings and possibly food trucks to attract visitors are possible.
- For-rent affordable housing: 10% of the apartments could rent to households earning 80% or less of area median income — up to $64,800 for an individual or $83,280 for a family of three.
- For-sale affordable housing: 15% of the townhomes to be sold at below market rate. Half priced for households earning 65% or less of AMI, or up to $67,665 for a family of three. The other half for households earning 80% of AMI.
- Amenities: parks and green space; greenways connecting the neighborhood to nearby retail and offices.
Lightbridge on Weaver Dairy Road
The 1.8-acre Lightbridge site is located near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Weaver Dairy Road.
Chapel Hill landowner Comprop LLC wants to build a one-story daycare center with a playground along the street, plus 34 parking spaces. A second phase of construction would add two-story townhomes with garages to the rear of the site.
Although the proposed rezoning would allow up to 12 townhomes, the developer is only asking to build four at this time. If the townhomes are sold, one would be priced at below market rate, because the town’s inclusionary zoning rule requires 15% of for-sale housing to be affordable.
The site was the location of the Chapel Hill Montessori Day School for over 30 years, until it was relocated to Legion Road under new ownership in 2013.
The narrow lot is situated between the Bank of America branch next to Timberlyne shopping center and the UNC medical offices at Weaver Crossing. A driveway would connect the project to Weaver Crossing, with plans for future pedestrian connections to Timberlyne.
The Lightbridge project would also be built to meet the town’s 100-year storm requirement.
