A new proposal that will bring a 272-unit residential apartment project to the newly named Blue Hill District in Chapel Hill has been approved.
A permit for the Fordham Boulevard Apartments development was approved on Friday by town manager Roger Stancil. Projects in the Blue Hill District – formerly known as the Ephesus-Fordham District – can be approved by the town manager rather than going before the Town Council if the proposal meets guidelines laid out in the town’s form-based code.
The new apartments will come from redeveloping the Days Inn site between Elliot Road and the Eastgate Crossing shopping center. The development was proposed by Ram Realty, which is also in the process of redeveloping the adjacent shopping center on Elliot Road.
Stancil wrote in an e-mail to the council that the project is in “full compliance” with all necessary guidelines to move forward.
The letter of approval sent to Ram Realty Advisors last Friday, December 1, says that the project meets the requirements “by fostering a walkable, mixed use district with a lively and engaging street environment with balanced access for all modes of travel while mitigating the stormwater and flood impacts of existing and proposed development.”
As part of the redevelopment, the project will incorporate multi-modal pathways and canopy trees separating the street and sidewalk from the structure. Canopy trees were part of the concern that was brought by members of the Community Design Commission when the project, which was first proposed in April, went before that body in July.
The facility will provide 14,500 square feet of recreation space onsite for property tenants and 9,300 square feet of publicly accessible outdoor amenity space, which is said to include “an overlook of Booker Creek and an adjoining outdoor seating area.”
The developers will also pay $10,000 toward bus stop improvements on South Elliot Road and $111,000 for “off-site recreation space payment to be used for developing park spaces in and around the district.”
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Before they break ground, the development team may want to inquire about the vacancy rate of The Berkshire around the corner. The town’s supply of pricey apartments has already outstripped demand.
We are looking to the new council to make basic changes in a zoning code that keeps building what we don’t need. More parking decks and luxury apartments will increase traffic on 15-501 and certainly will not promote walking.
Hard to believe that this developer does not understand the future needs for apartments before committing money. Density in this area will benefit existing businesses in “Blue Hill”