The Town of Chapel Hill’s Community Design Commission recently reviewed concept plans and recommended approval of a new hotel, proposed for 108 West Rosemary Street.
Coulter Jewell Thames, the applicant of the Element Hotel, is proposing to redevelop the land surrounding Chapel Hill’s Old Town Hall building, on the corner of Columbia and Rosemary Street, to build a four-to-five story, extended-stay hotel.
If approved by the council, the hotel, more colloquially known as the West Rosemary Street Hotel, would consist of up to 95,000 square feet with 140 rooms, a rooftop bar, and the construction of a “community pocket park” between the town hall and hotel.
Currently, the lot is used for parking and two commercial building spaces. These would be removed as part of the site development.
A site plan shows six lots that comprise the site of a potential hotel on West Rosemary and North Columbia streets in Chapel Hill. The developer is proposing a land swap with the town, which owns three lots at the intersection, including the Historic Town Hall. (Photo via MHAworks)
Dan Jewell with Coulter Jewell Thames said the land being considered for the build is ideal for a new hotel.
“This location is in the middle of everything, it’s walkable to everywhere, there’s great public transportation options and, importantly, there are existing and proposed public parking decks within a short walk of this as well,” Jewell said.
Jared Martinson of MHAworks, one of the architects for the project, said hotel plans include 70 parking spaces. He said project architects previously decreased and simplified surface parking following the Community Design Commission’s and town council’s last concept plan review in 2019.
With these changes, Martinson said the hotel’s impact on downtown traffic is “minimal” as pedestrian paths, parking and bike storage will all be housed underground.
“It’s critical that the site was chosen for the proximity to downtown and the campus because that’s going to continue to promote alternate transportation options,” Martinson said. “We’ve got 70 parking spaces for the site and the reason we’ve minimized the parking there is because we’re actively looking to participate in the town-shared parking process.”
The town’s traffic impact analysis for the project shows the number of daily around the hotel site increasing from 127 to 575. To accommodate this increase, the town recommends reoptimizing signals at Rosemary and Columbia Street as well as those at Franklin and Columbia.
In addition to addressing parking and traffic concerns, Martinson said the applicant is proposing to remove 12 canopy trees from the site but will be replacing those trees with 23 canopy trees and 42 understory trees.
Following the presentation, the Community Design Commission decided to recommend the West Rosemary Street Hotel to the town council with the stipulation that the commission needs to review and approve the project’s landscaping, lighting aspects and building elevation at a future time.
Christine Berndt, vice-chair of the board, said the building height needs to be carefully evaluated to have a cohesive look between the hotel and historic downtown buildings. Currently, the total roof height of the project is 65 feet above the mean finished grade.
“I was a little bit chagrin that this is the first time we’re seeing the elevations,” Berndt said. “It’s hard to react to something just on the spur of the moment on what is an iconic site. So, I think our review and approval of the elevations in an iterative way would be very important.”
The vote passed 5-1, with Berndt choosing to deny recommendation, stating she does not want the hotel to encroach into the Northside Neighborhood Conservation District.
The Town of Chapel Hill is set to host a public hearing on the proposed Element Hotel June 8.
If approved, the project is anticipated to be fully complete by late 2022.
Lead photo via MHAworks.
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