At the beginning of May, the Town of Chapel Hill’s Economic Sustainability Committee heard a presentation for a potential luxury housing development for residents 55 and older. The proposed South Creek development would replace the previously-approved Obey Creek Project.

While the project is still in early planning stages, it aims to build middle-income housing like duplexes, townhomes and condos for people 55 and older. The 35-acre housing development would be a less dense alternative to the former Obey Creek Project.

South Creek aims to be a walkable community with plenty of green space for its residents, according to concept plans. (Photo via Beechwood)

East West Partners, the original developers of Obey Creek, said their mixed-use project will not be built because demand for office and retail space has decreased since its original approval in 2015.

The land was put up for auction and purchased by Beechwood, a New York developer that specializes in age-restricted condo communities. Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said Beechwood’s proposal for South Creek is intriguing, but there are still some qualms with the concept plans because of its location along the future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line.

“The council interestingly pushed back a little bit and said we understand why you want to do age restricted to help with the traffic, but this is the perfect place for young professionals,” Hemminger said. “It’s right there on the BRT line so we would like to see you do a mix of both.”

Hemminger said she hopes Beechwood’s design will be readjusted according to the council’s comments.

South Creek would be roughly the same size as the Obey Creek development but would only use 35 of the 120 acres for building while preserving the remaining acreage for a community park.

“They’re still proposing to preserve the same amount of land that Obey Creek was planning to preserve on the eastern side of the creek,” Hemminger said.

Beechwood says this preservation is important because it is an environmentally sensitive piece of land.

South Creek is proposed use 85-acres of land to create a community park to protect the natural land. (Photo via Beechwood)

“They’re planning something much less dense than what was planned for Obey Creek,” Hemminger said. “It’ll be interesting to see what comes back and what that yields for the community.”

The developers are hoping the conservation of the natural land addresses the project’s stormwater and environmental degradation concerns. These concerns along with increased traffic are the same ones community members previously raised about Obey Creek.

For the full presentation about the South Creek Project click here.

Featured photo via Beechwood

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