The Chapel Hill Town Council had a full agenda for its last scheduled meeting before a summer break last Wednesday. One item not discussed, however, was a formal economic development agreement for a proposed parking deck on East Rosemary Street.

The town and Grubb Properties, the developers applying for the project, are still in discussions about constructing a new parking deck at 125 East Rosemary Street, according to Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger. But the two sides failed to bring a formal agreement to the council before going on summer break. Grubb Properties had previously stated it hoped to have the project within the federal-designated Opportunity Zone approved before June 30 to fit with a specific timeline to earn special tax benefits.

Hemminger spoke with 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck following the meeting. She said the two sides were not at a point to put something out for approval by last week’s meeting.

“We weren’t in a place with negotiations with the parking deck that we had a formal economic agreement we could bring to the public,” said Hemminger. “We’re hopeful we will have it shortly, but again, we’re on summer break and we’re trying to figure it out.”

The Chapel Hill mayor also said she hopes to get more public feedback on the proposed project once a formal agreement gets shared. With council meetings conducted over Zoom due to the coronavirus pandemic, garnering public input has been more challenging than in the past.

“I really want the public to take a look at this,” Hemminger said, “I don’t want it to be a surprise. We’ve got to figure out the strategy [to do that.]”

The proposed project would expand parking on East Rosemary Street by 156 following the destruction of both the existing deck at 125 East Rosemary Street and the Wallace Parking Deck. To achieve this, Grubb Properties is proposing a land swap with the town in order to take control of the land currently occupied by the Wallace Parking Deck, which the developers hope to transform into office and wet-lab space.

The Chapel Hill Town Council discussed a draft economic development agreement for the project in April, which had an estimated timeline of August or September for the land swap to be completed. The estimated $27 million project would then begin with the destruction of the current 125 East Rosemary Street parking deck.

While the town council will likely not begin regular business meetings again until September, Hemminger said there’s a chance council members could reconvene if an agreement is able to be completed.

“We know we’re coming back for a brief meeting at the end of July to hopefully announce our new town attorney,” she said. “I would prefer to wait until September when the public knows we’re coming back, but we’ll see where negotiations end up.”

Despite no action taken on the 125 East Rosemary Street project, the town council did take action on another Grubb Properties project on the street. It approved a zoning atlas amendment for 135 and 137 East Rosemary Street to allow the developers to continue their work renovating those properties into an “innovation hub.”

The Chapel Hill Town Council also approved its budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year, totaling just more than $131 million. To view the full budget appropriations, visit the town’s website.

Photo via Perkins + Will.

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