University Place Chick-fil-A to Close Permanently

The Chick-fil-A at University Place is set to close at the end of the month, joining a long list of business closures at the Chapel Hill mall.

According to a sign placed at the front of the popular fast food chain, the indoor University Place location will be closing permanently, effective November 30, 2021. Restaurant employees confirmed the news to 97.9 The Hill Thursday.

A sign is placed near the entrance of University Place’s Chick-fil-A announcing the location’s closure.

Chick-fil-A’s announcement is the latest in a string of closures at University Place in the last few years.

In August 2020, Burlington Shoes officially closed its indoor location, with the neighboring Bath and Body Works closing the following year. This summer, University Place’s Night Gallery – Branching Out store closed its doors after more than 50 years in business.

Additionally, the restaurant City Kitchen, which had an exterior entrance, moved from the mall in September 2020, with its owner citing “unfavorable lease negotiations.”

These closures come as mall ownership looks to “transform University Place into a walkable town center.” Development plans call for up to 300 apartments, 150 hotel rooms, 150,000 square feet of office space and 450,000 square feet of retail space. The last public review of the plans were done by the Town of Chapel Hill’s Community Design Commission in October.

“Our proposal is to de-mall the property – and really what that is, is converting obsolete, dying, enclosed mall into an outward-facing, open-air town center,” said Ashley Saulpaugh of Ram Realty Advisors.

Editor’s Note: 97.9 The Hill/Chapelboro.com is a tenant of University Place, having first moved there in 2016.

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University Place Chick-fil-A to Close Permanently

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