Chapel Hill’s Town Council reviewed a concept plan for a proposed hotel project on the corner of West Rosemary and South Columbia Street at their council meeting on November 13.

The land currently holds several nondescript single story buildings, along with a parking lot. Mayor Pam Hemminger says the concept plan is just the beginning of what will likely be a long process.

“It’s a very interesting proposal,” she says, “and I encourage people to log on and take a look at that presentation, it was really good. This was just a concept plan, so this will come through the whole public process for people to give input on that situation.”

Part of the plan includes a parcel exchange with the town in order to develop the hotel, in which the town would receive a chunk of land off of Pritchard Avenue to act as a buffer to the adjacent neighborhood. The plan also seeks to enhance the space around the historic Town Hall building, which the hotel is slated to surround in an L-shape.

Hemminger says the town is not sure what the future holds for the historic Town Hall, which currently houses the Inter-Faith Council for Social Services while their new location is under construction.

“Right now that’s all we’ve been thinking forward on doing as we are looking at, hopefully, a master plan for the downtown area in general. We haven’t gotten to that step,” says Hemminger.

The developers for the project, Smart Hotels and The Olympia Companies, specialize in developing custom-designed and sustainable hotels.

The project also details additional parking, street side improvements to West Rosemary Street, a pocket park and a possible mural. The entire concept plan is available here.

Photo via Town of Chapel Hill.

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