New Retail Building Coming to Eastgate

The Eastgate BP station will be demolished to make way for a new retail building.

The redevelopment plans where submitted by the Federal Realty Investment Trust in August.

The plans seek to replace the gas station with a one-story building that will host three or four businesses, according to Chapel Hill town planner Jay Heikes.

“So what’s going there is a little bit less than 8,000 square feet of retail,” said Heikes. “No tenant has been identified yet, or at least shared with us.”

The project is still awaiting zoning approval but Heikes expects the plans to be approved.

“The actual demolition of that station, as well as the grading and preparation for the new building, is set to get a zoning approval either late this week or early next week,” said Heikes.

Once the zoning is approved the developers will still need additional approval before new construction can begin.

“Once they do that they do need to seek some additional permits but this is the case with all private construction projects in town,” said Heikes.

Construction is expected to begin sometime in the spring.

The lease had expired on the BP station and the property owner of the Eastgate shopping center decided to redevelop that location.

The new construction is taking place in the Ephesus-Fordham Zoning District. The town created this zoning district in July 2014. According to the town, the purpose is to renew and transform an area characterized by strip malls, parking lots, confusing roadways and traffic congestion.

The plans for the new construction involves removing the service road that runs parallel to Fordham and using that space for pedestrians and bike lanes.

This is the fourth project to be proposed in this zoning area since it was adopted last year in an attempt to redevelop the area.