Florida developer’s plan to build more student apartments hits a wall in Chapel Hill
The Chapel Hill Town Council brought the conversation about a proposed student apartment building to a hard stop Wednesday night, saying it doesn’t meet the town’s needs.
After hearing a revised concept plan for The Flats — 200 apartments in a six-story building at 607-617 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. — Mayor Pam Hemminger questioned whether the site, next to the Adelaide Walters senior apartments, is appropriate for student housing.
She also pushed the council to take a broader view of housing that includes workers, young professionals and lower-income residents.
“We don’t need any more student housing,” Hemminger said.
“We have a limited downtown, and the only place (that) downtown can grow is up the MLK corridor,” she said. “We have been trying to bring commercial components to our town to help provide the jobs, the vibrancy, and we need people here 12 months out of the year.”
A recent housing study has found Chapel Hill only needs to build about 485 housing units a year for the next 20 years to meet its demand. Roughly 10% of those units are needed for UNC students living off campus, the study found.
Chapel Hill averaged 430 new residents a year from 2010 to 2020, the U.S. Census showed.
Other council members echoed Hemminger’s comments, including Council member Jessica Anderson, who noted that commercial development also is important along the corridor.
The council should act soon to clarify its housing policy, Council member Michael Parker said.
“One thing we need as a council to do, in fairness to the development community writ large, is … be clearer about our student housing policy so that developers don’t spend time and money coming to us with projects that may not get a very favorable reception,” Parker said.
Council member Camille Berry agreed, noting that will help “rebuild trust with our development community.”
Student vs. workforce, family housing
Wednesday’s review marked the second time that The Flats developer sought council feedback, and the second time that council members raised the need for more family and workforce housing.
In March 2021, council members noted it’s critical to work with UNC to get a more accurate picture of the need. The university co-sponsored the town’s recent housing study.
Bruce Ballentine, project engineer for The Flats, said the development team didn’t understand the town’s opposition to student housing until Wednesday, and wouldn’t have continued to develop the project if it did.
“What I have heard personally over the last number of years is we don’t want student housing downtown, but several blocks away, especially on MLK on the transit corridor, was an appropriate location for it, so I think it would be a good idea to make this well known,” Ballentine said.
The Flats site is located across the street from two large, new student apartment complexes — the 194-unit Lark Chapel Hill (formerly the Lux) and the 346-unit Union Chapel Hill (formerly Grove Park) — and backs up to a popular student neighborhood along North Columbia Street.
Another student apartment building has been proposed a block to the north at 701 MLK Jr. Blvd. That project, Aspen Heights, would add 102 apartments in a six-story building, replacing the now-closed Johnson’s Garage.
A public information meeting for Aspen Heights was held in January, but a council hearing has not yet been scheduled.
As a town resident, Ballentine said he also worries about where students are going to live. About 27% of UNC’s 31,538 students live on campus this year, according to the university.
“If we don’t put them somewhere, they’re going to live outside of town, drive in, we’ll get the traffic like we have, and no tax base,” Ballentine said.
Developer Russell Greer interjected, asking to get a copy of the town’s housing study. He noted that others, including university housing officials, have mentioned to him the need for student housing.
“I know from a development standpoint that the demand is there,” Greer said.
The Flats project details
The concept plan for The Flats is not an official application. Instead, developers submit concept plans to the council and town advisory boards, so that they can get feedback before submitting a final application.
Here are the details:
▪ Location: 3.6 acres at 607-617 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
▪ Developer: Russell Greer, Progressive Capital Group
▪ Existing use: A few small homes and a small apartment building
▪ Proposed use: 200 apartments, with 500 to 570 bedrooms
▪ Parking: 350 underground spaces
▪ Amenities: A public courtyard facing MLK Jr. Boulevard and a private courtyard with a pool
▪ Building height: Four stories adjacent to the street and surrounding properties, to six stories at the building’s core
▪ Affordable housing: Options on the table include making some of the new apartments affordable to people with lower incomes; contributing to an affordable housing project that’s already happening off site; or completing renovations to the town’s public housing.
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 8:27 AM with the headline "Florida developer’s plan to build more student apartments hits a wall in Chapel Hill."
