The Chapel Hill Town Council recently gave early reactions and comments on the proposed Aura Chapel Hill development, which aims to be constructed at 1000 Martin Luther King Boulevard.
The nearly 15-acre property, which also borders North Estes Drive, used to be a tree farm and has been largely untouched since being cleared in 2018. The space has faced roadblocks of development due to the Horace Williams Airport across the street and resulting zoning conditions.
Texas developer Trinsic Residential Group hopes to turn the space into a mixed-use development as shown by the concept plans given to town council. In them, Aura Chapel Hill would have multi-story apartment buildings, townhomes, commercial space and more than 575 parking spaces.
Designers and representatives for the developers said the concept plan was designed to maximize walk-ability and to fit in with other current or future neighborhoods in the town’s Central West Small Area Plan.
But while the Chapel Hill Town Council said it liked some aspects of the concept plan, the comments it delivered largely focused on the hurdles the development faces.
A difficulty of the space is the busy thoroughfares needed to access it. The developers propose right-turn only entrances and exits onto Martin Luther King Boulevard because of its traffic. That means the other entrance hinges on North Estes Drive, where Trinsic hopes to install a roundabout with approval of the state Department of Transportation. Having failed to get that approval in the past, many on the council expressed concern about the traffic impact for Estes.
Council member Allen Buansi spoke to this at the virtual meeting.
“Traffic congestion is a big concern for me. It’s hard for me to really figure what traffic mitigation measures can be taken to alleviate that problem, particularly if a roundabout can’t be done.”
In addition, council members said they hope to see more affordable housing options within the development. In the concept plans, 15 percent of the Aura Chapel Hill apartments would be designated affordable units priced at 80 percent of the area median income, or AMI.
A concept design of the Aura Chapel Hill development, presented to the Town of Chapel Hill on May 6, 2020. (Photo via JDavid Architects.)
Council member Tai Huynh spoke to this, saying he’d like to see the developers make either more units affordable or prices lower.
“I know the housing board said this, but I’d like to see more of the units being aimed at 60 percent AMI,” he said. “Especially [since] 15 percent is our base [affordable housing proportion] we try and get from developers and if we’re not getting ownership units from the townhomes.”
Council member Hongbin Gu also stressed the importance of affordable housing, pointing out the proximity to a planned Bus Rapid-Transit stop. She said the town’s wish is to have a development that can be affordable for residents who may rely on public transportation to get to work.
Similarly, council member Karen Stegman said she thinks despite seeming being pedestrian-friendly, the concept plans do not capitalize enough on having commercial spaces so close to residential buildings.
“I just don’t think it checks all the boxes,” she said about the plan’s aim to be a transit-oriented development. “It checks some of them, but the live-work-play [model and] getting people out of cars just isn’t quite there. And I think part of that is [a need for] more retail.”
The council took no action beyond submitting comments to the developer at the meeting.
Video of the Chapel Hill Town Council’s comments and more details on the Aura Chapel Hill concept plan can be found on the town website.
Photo via JDavid Architects.
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