With construction in the latest phase of redevelopment at University Place hitting its final stages, the Chapel Hill mall announced new leasing deals with businesses to fill its new storefronts.
A release from University Place on Tuesday shared four new tenants set to join in the coming months: The Salty, Solidcore Pilates, Sweathouz Cold Plunge and Sauna, and Veterinarian Emergency Group. With the update, the mall also shared a revised master plan to highlight the new businesses and available space.
The Salty is an artisanal doughnut and coffee shop chain which started in Miami, Fla. and has expanded up the southeast. The Chapel Hill location will be its latest in North Carolina, as it has one shop in Charlotte with another franchise planned for Cary, and it will help anchor “The Commons” — a green space at the center of University Place’s new development in the former footprint of Southern Season. The building finished construction in recent months and its counterpart on the other end of The Commons was filled by Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, which opened at the end of February.
Photo via The Salty.
The Salty will be located in this building, which is at one end of the central space featuring benches and tables called “The Commons.”
Facing The Commons are eight new storefronts constructed from the existing mall building, and one of these is where the Solidcore Pilates location will lease. Similarly, the membership-based Pilates studio has a presence already in Charlotte and a location in Raleigh — with the Chapel Hill location planned as another expansion following a studio opening in Durham later this spring. In its release, University Place said an early estimated time of opening for Solidcore is this fall.
Sweathouz — which offers cold plunge and infrared sauna studios, and is stylized as SWTHZ — will take space in the same building that WakeMed’s MyCare 365 clinic that opened in February. Once open, it will be the business’ third North Carolina location following spots in Charlotte and Raleigh. The new building adjacent to Sweathouz and WakeMed will be where the Veterinary Emergency Group — a 24-hour emergency veterinarian clinic — establishes its first Chapel Hill location. Neither business had an estimated opening time shared in Tuesday’s release.
With the announcement, it means the newly completed buildings along Fordham Boulevard and the main west-east road connecting Willow Drive and Fordham are fully leased. The Indian restaurant Curry Up Now is set to neighbor Veterinary Emergency Group as announced in 2023, although it also has no current timeline for opening.
The announcement is just the latest in a flurry of activity at University Place as part of the redevelopment. That includes the winter openings of the first two businesses in the ground-floor retail space in the 900 Willow apartment building: the Palette & Parlor furniture shop and The Soap and Shine handcrafted soap store. Additionally, a pair of long-time University Place tenants are relocating — with The Frame & Print Shop finishing a move to space between Stoney River Steakhouse & Grill and Silverspot Cinema, and Alfredo’s Pizza Villa preparing to move into the biggest retail space of 900 Willow.
The latest master plan of University Place, as shared in Feb. 2025. (Photo via University Place/Ram Realty.)
While continuing to lease new storefront, the next phase of redevelopment for Ram Realty — which purchased University Place in 2018 — is construction directly east of The Commons. The updated master plan shows additional storefronts, with ownership adding in 2022 the plan is to have office space included in upper floors of the new buildings. Additional construction in the current phase is continuing at the former mall entrance facing South Estes Drive, which will be the entrance to a new storefront and social plaza.
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Awesome, more franchise chains. Making chapel hill great again.
It’s a franchise city! I understand how housing mixed with retail is a good idea, but RAM was heartless in dealing with our longtime local merchants like Wentworth Sloan, and Mayo’s. Those local businesses are gone. Happily,
Wentworth has a great new venue in Southern Village. I’d love for Mayo’s to reopen.
I agree totally with this point. I am sad that the more local stores like The Kitchen Store are long gone, now.
$52.00 a dozen for Salty’s donuts? Really? That’s what the cost at the Charlotte location.