When the first concept plan for a Putt-Putt Fun Center began circulating during 2019, many around Chapel Hill had their interest piqued and felt excitement grow. The plan was eventually approved by the town council and aimed to be part of the ongoing growth within Carraway Village off Eubanks Road within a few years.
But five years later, no progress has been made on the project — and according to new plans submitted by Carraway Village’s developers, the land will be used for housing instead.
Renderings of the Putt-Putt Fun Center approved by Chapel Hill in 2021, which ultimately fell through after the developer chose for the permit to lapse. (Photo via Town of Chapel Hill and Coulter Jewell Thames PA.)
Northwood Ravin submitted plans with Cline Design to the Town of Chapel Hill this summer that aim to build a mix of rental housing options on the 19-acre parcel north of its existing apartment buildings. The concept plan — which shows a mix of multi-family units alongside townhome buildings and single-family houses at 115 Chapel Point Road — is set to be reviewed by the town council on Wednesday night.
Chapel Hill’s elected officials approved a conditional zoning application in 2021 to allow developers to create a franchise of the Fayetteville-based chain, which planned to bring putt-putt courses and go-kart tracks to the parcel, alongside climate-controlled storage. Putt-Putt Fun Center used Coulter Jewell Thames PA to submit designs and work with the town, which included reconfiguring the footprint of the complex and a stipulation of using electric-powered go-karts instead of gas-powered vehicles when council approved the application.
According to Chapel Hill Director of Strategic Communications & Marketing Susan Brown, the putt-putt company’s permit said construction on the project was required to begin in March 2024 in order for the permit to be honored. While the storage facility was constructed at the end of Myrica Street, such work never began on the putt-putt facility, and Brown told Chapelboro the company did not seek any extensions to its permits.
With that lapsed, the property’s future now appears to be the third phase of Northwood Ravin’s large-scale mixed-use development of the parcel tucked between the curve of Interstate 40 and Eubanks Road in Chapel Hill. Carraway Village completed its first phase – the central apartment complex – around 2018 and added businesses in the corner near Eubanks Road’s intersection with Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard shortly after. Phase 2 of the construction was Carraway Tower, a separate building of apartments on the footprint directly east of the Phase 1 buildings that opened its first units this summer.
Phase 3 looks to create a community described by the applicant as “three small villages within the project site” designed to “look, feel and function as a natural extension of the existing Carraway Village mixed-use project.” Northwood Ravin says the concept is for 124 units across three-story townhome buildings, two-story single family buildings and a three-story multi-family building. The development would be on about 6.5 acres of the parcel, leaving the rest for a required, wooded buffer between the buildings and interstate.
A concept plan layout for Phase 3 of development by Northwood Ravin in Carraway Village off Eubanks Road. (Photo via Northwood Ravin/Cline Design Associates.)
While some of Northwood Ravin’s approach to Carraway Village and the surrounding businesses have changed in recent years, how Chapel Hill is evaluating development has also changed. This concept plan review of Phase 3 represents the first opportunity for Northwood Ravin to be reviewed through the town’s Complete Communities framework, which was passed in December 2022 with the goal of planning more cohesive and environmentally-conscious growth. In its application, Northwood Ravin uses some of the Complete Communities guidance to highlight its choices for the project — including the diversity of housing types, how streets would connect with the existing phases of development, and amenities offered within walkable distances.
The Chapel Hill Town Council meeting on Wednesday is set to begin at 6 p.m. at town hall and can also be watched on the town’s website. Concept plan reviews involve only council members’ feedback and questions to applicants, and do no represent a formal application for development.
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