Chapel Hill OKs deal for affordable, missing middle housing on its Durham border

Families looking for affordable or missing middle housing in Chapel Hill could have more choices in the future for renting an apartment or buying a townhouse or cottage near the Durham County line.

After some last-minute negotiations, the Chapel Hill Town Council reached an agreement with a local developer Wednesday for Chapel Hill Crossing, a largely residential project spanning 16.3 acres on Old Durham and Pope roads, near the Durham County line.

The council voted 8-1 to approve the project, with Council member Adam Searing voting no.

The site is a “great place for density” and he would like to see more townhouses, Searing said, but some parts of the plan need more work, particularly the quality of the amenities and the amount of pavement and other impervious surfaces.

The approved project could have over 300 apartments, cottages and townhouses, including about 20 for-sale homes and 26 for-rent apartments priced affordably for a person earning $46,000 to $57,000 a year or a family of four earning $66,000 to $81,000 a year.

The apartment building at 5500 Old Durham Road will be three to five stories, with underground and surface parking. The three- to four-story townhouses and cottages will be located to the south at the corner of Old Durham and Pope roads.

Larger townhouses will let homeowners have an accessory apartment or a work-live space, but no short-term rentals are allowed.

E.B. Capital Partners developer Ernie Brown, who lives in Chapel Hill, worked over most of the last two years with town staff and the council to reach the current proposal, which also preserves roughly three acres of forest north of the apartment building site.

The approved plan eliminated 220 housing units that were included in the June review. It also removed a controversial seven-story apartment building and three-story parking deck.

Stormwater, sense of place

Neighbors of the project again shared with the council their worries about flooding, the loss of trees, and the project’s density, which increased with Wednesday’s vote to rezone.

The rezoning also allows the project to include a daycare or elder care center, and pop-up retail space is planned south of Old Durham Road. Brown also accepted Council member Tai Huynh’s suggestion of an inclusive playground to serve children of all abilities, and agreed to pay for a study of the 250-acre watershed around Clark Lake, a privately owned lake with an aging dam south of the site.

Chapel Hill Crossing will be designed to handle a 100-year storm, Brown said.

While two of the 13 residents who spoke favored more housing, Clark Lake resident Joanna Pomerantz and others said some issues, such as stormwater, were not fully addressed. The project also doesn’t meet the vision of a Complete Community or do anything for the town or its current residents, Pomerantz said.

“It fails to create a sense of place. With each new development that the town approves, it takes from the existing community. It takes our tree canopy and our green spaces. It takes the freedom to move about our community unencumbered by creating large developments and not sufficiently addressing the traffic issues,” or providing affordable housing or parks, she said.

While she hears those concerns and would like to see the developer offer a bond in case of stormwater damage to neighbors, Council member Amy Ryan said, “in interest of balance, I think housing here is a good thing.”

“I think the housing you’re putting here is better than your original proposal, and I think it’s the missing middle that we have been looking for,” Ryan said.

More housing, future development

Brown initially submitted two separate concept plans for the land in 2021, but agreed to delay the work while the town considered a more comprehensive plan for 41 acres west of Interstate 40, from U.S. 15-501 to Old Durham and Pope roads.

The proposed Parkline East Village neighborhood could include a redeveloped Parkline (former Blue Cross) office building and two more housing projects — White Oak and Gateway. The area now is largely wooded, with low-density single-family homes, and serves as a busy commuter corridor between Durham and Chapel Hill.

Earlier this month, Chapel Hill’s council approved temporarily moving the Chapel Hill Police Department to the Parkline campus, and last year, the council voted to make Parkline East Village one of its Complete Community pilot projects.

E.B. Capital Partners submitted a new plan earlier this year combining the concept plans to create Chapel Hill Crossing. That project, which offered 548 rental and for-sale housing units, but no affordable housing, got a critical review from council and the public in June.

Wednesday’s plan, which evolved over the summer, was better, council members said, with critical housing options for the town.

The final plan is “a solid plan for the area,” Council member Michael Parker said. New stormwater controls and a study that comes up with workable recommendations could also improve the situation downstream, he said.

“I think it’s a good proposal,” even if it’s not perfect, Parker said.

Final project details

▪ Location: 16 acres at 5500 Old Durham Road and the southwestern corner of Old Durham and Pope roads

▪ Current use: Mostly wooded, with several single-family homes

▪ Proposed use: Between 190 and 199 units in a 3- to 5-story apartment building north of Old Durham Road, and between 100 and 130 for-sale townhouses and cottages to the south.

▪ Affordable for-sale housing: 15%, or 20, of the for-sale townhouses and cottages would be priced for households earning 65% to 80% of the area median income for 99 years. Chapel Hill’s area median income is $116,200 a year for a family of four.

▪ Affordable apartments: 26 apartments will be affordable for about 30 years. Half will rent to households earning 65% of Chapel Hill’s area median income, and half will rent to households earning 80% of AMI. Rent set at the current AMI levels would be between $1,150/month for a single person earning 65% AMI and $2,022/month for a family of four earning 80% of AMI.

▪ Recreation: A pool, fitness center, courtyard, co-working space, community garden, community center with fitness equipment, open spaces, and a playground and picnic area.

▪ Stormwater: The developer is building a stormwater pond and grading the land to handle runoff from a 100-year storm. The town’s rules require stormwater measures to prevent an increase in the current state of flooding.

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