Construction recently began on long-standing plans to bring new apartments to a site along Ephesus Church Road.
The Town of Chapel Hill shared updates in January on the Park Apartments project, which aims to bring new living space to the site of The Park at Chapel Hill, an apartment complex once at 1250 Ephesus Church Road. According to the applicant, who is listed as McAdams Company, the development will comprise of 414 multifamily residential units distributed through a quartet of five or six-story buildings, as well as several three-story buildings.
The town said construction on a parking deck is now underway near the intersection of Ephesus Church Road and Legion Road, with the structure visible from the street. Other construction in the coming months will be for the Park Apartments phase of the site, which will eventually surround the parking deck.
This is the first major redevelopment of the property along Ephesus Church Road since the original apartment complex was built in 1966, which was named The Colony before rebranding to The Parks at Chapel Hill. Community input was gathered in the summer of 2019, as the town heard feedback on the demolition of one of the community’s naturally-occurring affordable housing neighborhoods.
Renderings of the Park Apartments complex from the approved Elliott Road Extension. (Photo via Housing Studio / McAdams Company.)
A key element to the apartments’ construction is improved accessibility to area through an extension of Elliott Road approved by the Town of Chapel Hill. After rebidding the long-discussed measure in August, the roadway improvements have a construction schedule in place. In addition to providing access to the Park Apartments, the town says the extension will help alleviate traffic congestion along popular roads in the Blue Hill District.
The most recent plans for the extension would connect Fordham Boulevard to Ephesus Church Road from the existing South Elliott Road, ending in a new roundabout. Town staff have said projections indicate change could lead to an estimated 7,800 vehicles using the roads each day instead of the Fordham-Ephesus Church intersection.
According to the town government, work to begin connecting the extension of Elliott Road to Fordham Boulevard will begin in late spring and early summer of this year. The January release says information on construction updates is being sent to businesses and residents nearby through the mail and on door hangers.
An early projection of the Elliott Road Extension, which would connect Fordham Boulevard and Ephesus Church Road. (Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.)
More information from the Town of Chapel Hill on the Parks Apartment project and the Elliott Road Extension can be found on the local government’s website.
Photo via Housing Studio / McAdams Company.
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What does 7,800 car trips look like? Is there a source of comparison? Will it impact pedestrian access?
Also, what will be the total cost to Chapel Hill taxpayers for the roads associated Park Apt. project?