A proposed East Rosemary Street development would alter more than 3.2 acres along the street into office and wet lab space with additional parking. This multi-million-dollar undertaking is being fronted by the Town of Chapel Hill and real-estate developer Grubb Properties.

Grubb Properties would design and build the development on the town’s behalf.

The Town of Chapel Hill is fine tuning an agreement with Grubb Properties to clearly outline their goals and expectations.

At their last council meeting, The Town of Chapel Hill moved to pass a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Grubb Properties ahead of further discussion on zoning and construction.

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 town and Grubb properties both share the desire to expand the Wallace parking deck behind the CVS into a multi-functional, parking space – adding an additional 159 parking spots to the deck.

While the MOU outlines a timeline and loose construction plans for the redevelopment, there are still some details that need to be fine-tuned and discussed.

Chapel Hill Council member Hongbin Gu expressed concern about the wording of the MOU and how the town can hold Grubb Properties accountable for following through with the development.

Gu noted that in this non-binding MOU, Grubb Properties could end their work before building the adjacent office space after finishing the deck. If this happens, Gu asked how financially responsible it is to invest so fully in the project.

“I’m concerned with what’s the impact this project is going to have on the town’s financial health,” Gu said. “I think when it’s all said and done we’re going to pay more than 40 million.”

Gu said, because this project is a huge expense on the town’s behalf, the council needs to fully understand who owns the parking deck during construction and who will own it after.

“Who actually is the owner of this new deck and who is the developer,” Gu asked. “I think there is some confusion seeing as Grubb Properties is actually building the deck.”

The Town Manager, Maurice Jones, said while the town is the owner and developer of the land, during the building process the land will be exchanged to Grubb Properties. This raises another question: who will collect revenue from parking fees during the construction process?

“As part of the Economic Development Agreement we will work on identifying exactly when the property changes hands, but in the end once it’s constructed the town will own it,” Jones said.

These kinds of questions must be answered by June, when the town and Grubb Properties hope to finalize their Economic Development Agreement – cementing plans for ownership, building layout and partner responsibilities.

Construction on the new parking deck is slated for September of this year. Construction of the parking deck is expected to take one year – with construction of the office and wet lab spaces to follow subsequently.

To learn more about The Town of Chapel Hill’s redevelopment plans for East Rosemary Street, visit the town’s website.

(Photo courtesy of The Town of Chapel Hill)

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