Chapel Hill residents are likely well aware of the development efforts along East Rosemary Street to improve business and parking opportunities for the town. But two other projects are also seeking to provide more year-round, downtown housing – with one recently being approved by the town council.
Grubb Properties received unanimous approval from the Chapel Hill Town Council for its proposal on the corner of East Rosemary and Columbia Streets. The project will replace the former PNC Bank site with 150 apartment units over seven stories, with retail space on the ground floor facing Rosemary Street. The building will not offer parking to residents – a method to urge its tenants to use public transit or alternative methods.
Grubb is the same developer behind the Innovation Hub at 137 East Franklin Street and the future wet-lab building at 150 East Rosemary Street – while also helping the town with ongoing construction of a new parking deck at 125 East Rosemary Street, right next to the apartment project’s site.
Whitney St. Charles, a commercial development associate with the company, told the town council Wednesday the idea for a new Link Apartment complex was to add in a missing component to their vision for the street.
“Through the course of those projects,” she said, “we felt like the innovation district that we were creating is a fantastic opportunity – but what it’s really missing is housing for the workers in those buildings.”
A slide from Grubb Properties’ presentation to the Chapel Hill Town Council, showing all the projects approved so far as part of the East Rosemary Street redevelopment. (Photo via Grubb Properties.)
Despite the council’s unanimous support, two details of the project caused some officials to pause ahead of their votes. Most of the 150 apartments will be listed for community members at 110 percent AMI – lower than the 140 percent typical for “luxury” apartments. St. Charles said, however, keeping those units at the price makes it so just five units will be categorized as “affordable” at 80 percent AMI rates.
The developers added that this lower number also comes from their plans for the retail space to be more affordable for business owners, as it will be listed at 50 percent of the market rent rate. According to Grubb Properties’ presentation, that value is equivalent to having 15 additional affordable units for the landlords.
Council Member Karen Stegman said while she is excited for the project, the small number of affordable units was underwhelming because of the council’s strong focus on providing more year-round housing that is affordable.
“You hear from us over and over [about the need for more units at affordable prices],” she said, “and we’re hearing you can’t quite get there [financially]. And that’s frustrating. We want ‘everything,’ and you want ‘everything’ and that’s where we are.”
Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said, though, that even without units categorized as “affordable,” the lower AMI price for rent will make the Link Apartments already different from the limited selection of downtown housing.
“We desperately need young professional housing,” said the mayor. “The price-point of 110 percent [AMI] is better than anything else being offered in the downtown area. I love the affordable retail, we desperately need some affordable opportunities for our businesses, especially all the incubator, spin-off [projects] we’ve got going [in town].”
Town staff and council members also discussed how there is no legal policy in place to bind a developer to promises of “affordable retail” space. The council passed the measure, however, with plans to eventually develop that language while Grubb Properties advances with construction plans.’
A visualization of the retail spaces Grubb Properties plans to provide in its complex at 101 East Rosemary Street. Presenters at the April 26 town council meeting said they would be offered at a lower market rate to business owners. (Photo via Grubb Properties.)
Council member Camille Berry said based on Grubb’s cooperation with the town on the project – and the others along East Rosemary Street – she felt confident in approving the proposal. She also pointed to the need for housing available to the town’s young professionals and said these units are a step toward addressing that.
“It’s not perfect – none of the proposals we get are perfect,” Berry said. “But this delivers a package that we have not had in quite some time, probably not in the 25, 30 or 50 years that folks have lived here and what was available to them.”
The approval of the 101 East Rosemary Street apartment complex comes as another project is working through the earliest stages of town staff review. Chapel Hill-based developers Ballentine Associates P.A. and Raleigh’s TJ Capital II are seeking to build a 12-story building for condominiums at 157 East Rosemary Street. The developers plan to tear down the existing two-story building that’s currently home to the nightclub Vibez and boardgame bar The Gathering Place, constructing 56 units in its place.
The current building at 157 East Rosemary Street, which currently has two businesses and used to house the bar Country Fried Duck. (Photo via Google Maps.)
(Photo via Tise-Kiester Architects, PA.)
Similar to the 101 East Rosemary project, the proposed condo development would also have affordable units (14 of the 56) and have retail space on the ground floor. Two areas where it may differ: the 157 East Rosemary condos would offer parking to residents, but not have built-in amenities. During a recent information session, Don Tise – one of the architects leading the project – said the developers want all of Chapel Hill to effectively be the amenities for tenants.
Tise also said while the height may surprise some of the nearby residents, the site’s restrictions and the quality of the condominiums dictate a higher building – if approved.
“You can, for less expense, [construct] a five or six-story wood stick-built building and it’ll look like everything else built in the area,” said Tise. “But I don’t think it would accomplish the goals of revitalizing the East Rosemary Stret district. And this is a very small site, it’s square. To get the density we need to make everything work, we have to go up – we cannot go out [wider].”
The 157 East Rosemary Street project is still being worked on with town staff before it heads to Chapel Hill’s planning commission. After that, it is set to appear before council and would need several permits issued if approved – leading staff to estimate it’s at least one year out from any changes to the current site.
More information about the 101 East Rosemary Street and 157 East Rosemary Street projects can be found on the Town of Chapel Hill website.
Featured photo via Grubb Properties.
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This architecture is repulsive considering this district.
Are we sure none of these new residents will own a car? No parking? That’s bad planning.
I know right?! CH Transit is great in many ways but is incredibly limited if it’s your only option.
Parking downtown will keep getting worse.
“while the height may surprise some of the nearby residents…” Um, yeah. And not just the nearby residents. It will be the tallest building downtown. Seen from miles away. Yuck.