The Chapel Hill Town Council recently opened a public hearing to review a potential multifamily development at 701 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
Located at the corner of Longview Street and MLK Boulevard, the proposed seven-to-eight story project from Landmark Properties aims to provide up to 200 units near downtown and UNC’s campus, while also encouraging multimodal travel.
“It’s located right on the future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line,” Landmark Properties Development Manager Bryan Boyles said at the September 10 meeting. “It will really help promote the use of public transit. So we really feel like this is an ideal location for a multifamily use development.
“We’ve tried to incorporate as much of staff, and council, and planning feedback and offer as much as we could while still trying to maintain the density we need to make the property feasible,” he continued.
The meeting largely focused on updates to the project since the council first reviewed a concept plan last November. While praising the developer’s effort to bring density near Franklin Street and Bolin Creek Trail, council members expressed wanting to break up the site’s massing and a better affordability plan. The latest design incorporates building setbacks, balconies, and ground-floor retail.
The project’s plans for reducing visual massing, in response to council feedback. (Image via Landmark Properties.)
And to serve households earning between 60-80 percent of the Area Median Income, Landmark Properties said 10 percent of units would be affordable. But many council members said they would like all the affordable units to serve those earning 65 percent.
And with that, Wednesday’s public hearing also continued a discussion on who the project might serve. Last year, the council offered differing opinions about whether the development should discourage students, and now, its repeated comments centered on how the property should appeal to various demographics by offering a mix of unit types.
The current proposal plans for a range of apartments from studio to four-bedroom, but Mayor Pro Tem Amy Ryan said she wants a clearer breakdown of how many of each unit type would be offered when the hearing continues on October 8. Citing the site’s proximity to downtown and public transit, she said a lot of people would benefit from living there, from students, to workers, and seniors.
“I think it’s really important as part of understanding what exactly this property is and who it’s going to serve,” Ryan said. “That’s going to be a really key factor. Is it going to be another [predominantly student living development like] Lark, is it going to be a place where a wide range of folks are gonna be attracted to the property? That latter would be my interest, and if it is possible then for you to commit to what it’s going to be, then I know the project I approve is the project that gets delivered.”
Acknowledging how the town cannot regulate percentages for each unit type, Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson said while she would love students to live at the site, other people will not if there are not a wide variety of apartment options. For example, she said students often live in four-bedroom units, but she believes they also do well in studio and two-bedroom spaces.
Because the project aims to help extend Chapel Hill’s downtown area around the corner to MLK Boulevard, Council Member Paris Miller-Foushee said she is excited by how the updated proposal includes retail. Located at the site’s entrance, Boyles said the plaza would support small restaurants and space for community gathering.
The site’s public plaza located at the corner of Longview Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. (Image via Landmark Properties.)
“I see the number of bicyclists, the number of people walking, coming to the bus stop on that corner,” Miller-Foushee said. “It’s a lively corner, and the retail potential of a coffee shop or something there, I think it will get the kind of traffic it will need, in addition to the residents that live there, but also people who live in that space to come and support the kind of retail that goes there.”
Although the new proposal also decreased parking from 265 to 230 spaces, Ryan said she would still like that number to be smaller when the council reviews the development again in October.
“That still feels high to me,” Ryan said. “It’s more than one per unit, and we’re within walking distance from campus, we’re going to be on our Bus Rapid Transit line. So I would really love to see that coming down. I think uncoupling parking in this place actually makes sense, just given there’s going to be people who will have legitimate car-free options in the area.”
To watch the full town council meeting, click here.
Featured image via Landmark Properties.
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