E. Rosemary Street Redevelopment Negotiations Continue

The Chapel Hill Town Council met virtually for a work session Monday night to discuss the East Rosemary Street redevelopment.

This multi-million-dollar undertaking is being fronted by the Town of Chapel Hill and real-estate developer Grubb Properties.

Despite having to meet virtually, negotiations surrounding the 3.2 acres of redevelopment along East Rosemary Street continue to move forward.

At its work session, The Town of Chapel Hill worked on fine tuning two joint agreements with Grubb Properties in an attempt to more clearly outline their goals and expectations for the redevelopment.

These two documents are the Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, and the Economic Development Agreement, or EDA.

The MOU, is a non-binding agreement which will provide a framework of what the two entities agree upon and what still needs to be negotiated.

The EDA outlines plans for ownership, building layout and partner responsibilities, as well as when the property will change hands between Grubb Properties and the town.

Right now, this draft EDA states the property switch is roughly set for late August or early September.

While this EDA is not an official design concept plan, it does outline some aspects of the proposed buildings, such as the 1,100 space parking garage and 200,000 square foot office building set to be built where the Wallace Deck behind CVS currently stands.

The draft EDA also states that the demolition of the Wallace Parking Deck will only start after the land officially changes ownership.

There was also a slight update on the building design, including adding a ‘retail porch’, a pedestrian connection from the deck to Franklin Street and additional green space.

Outside of the updated design, the work session was used to update the council and leaders from Grubb Properties on where the two partners stand with negotiations and to see what details still need to be hammered out – details like the deadline for the complete parking deck design.

Grubb Properties wanted this concept plan completed in April but Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said the town’s timeline has the plan’s completion set for in the summer.

“One of the phases we go through is to look and give feedback to the developer on the concept plan,” Hemminger said. “If that project is to go forward we have to be able to have it entitled by the end of June.”

Another detail still needing to be worked out is the question of who will get the revenue from Wallace Deck operations while the property ownership is in flux.

To make matters more complicated, Hemminger said the town does not want to proceed much further without getting public comment. This has proven difficult with current social distancing measures.

“The developer still wants to proceed so the council is trying to find a way to do that while still getting the public input that we like to have,” Hemminger said.

At the town’s designated council meeting next week, they will look at a more detailed concept plan for the development.

To watch all Chapel Hill town council work sessions and meetings, or to read the redevelopment MOU and EDA, visit the town’s website.

Lead photo with concept designs for East Rosemary development via Perkins + Will.