Chapel Hill approves workforce housing near busy development corridor
A developer got the green light Wednesday to build 107 for-sale townhomes and condos near two schools, neighborhoods and a busy street corner.
The project at 710 N. Estes Drive will provide needed affordable workforce housing to serve UNC and town employees, teachers, and other low- to middle-income earners. Fourteen homes would be sold at a price affordable to individuals earning up to $53,600 a year or a family of four earning up to $76,550 a year. Over 220 parking spaces would be provided in surface lots and garages.
The Town Council voted unanimously to approve the project and rezone the 8-acre lot between Somerset Drive and the Aura Chapel Hill development. Before the 9-0 vote, council members thanked the developer for working to improve the project.
Council member Jessica Anderson said she’s “excited about the ownership opportunity for our first-time homebuyers and for those smaller units and obviously for the affordable housing.”
“Thank you for meeting with the neighbors and being respectful of trying to make this as good for them as it can be, but also really meeting our housing goals and creating a space that I think will create a lot of new housing for folks who don’t have access to our community right now,” Anderson said.
Wednesday’s presentation included several revisions since the council’s review last month. Lock7 Development LLC partner David Gorman noted there are now more affordable and market-rate homes, smaller floor plans, and more landscaping between the site and existing homes to the north.
Lock7 also has agreed to build stormwater controls for a 50-year storm event — only half of what Town Council member Amy Ryan had sought, but more than town rules require.
Treating the land for a 100-year storm event would be “infeasible due to site design and cost considerations,” project documents said.
The neighborhood also would have a driveway connection to Aura, which is slated to soon begin construction at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Estes Drive. That development will have 419 apartments and townhomes and a small amount of retail.
More project details
▪ Recreational amenities would include a central clubhouse and courtyard.
▪ Homes could be built side-by-side or stacked vertically, up to three and four stories tall.
▪ The project would have a street connection to Somerset Drive, and a future stoplight is expected at the intersection of Estes and Somerset drives. The developer agreed to pay $25,000 for the stoplight, $25,000 toward transit services, and $5,000 to adjust traffic signal timing.
Mayor Pam Hemminger has said that N.C. Department of Transportation officials may not move forward with the stoplight until the 710 North Estes project is built and the town completes its ongoing Estes Drive bike and pedestrian project.
This story was originally published October 20, 2022 at 6:15 AM with the headline "Chapel Hill approves workforce housing near busy development corridor."
