Groundbreaking news
Work begins on Carolina Square, a modern development to replace University Square.
The tagline on cards passed out at the Oct. 22 groundbreaking for Carolina Square called the modern development replacing University Square “Where Collaboration Lives.”
“Chapel Hill has taught us a whole new level of collaboration,” said Larry Gellerstedt, president and chief executive officer of Cousins Properties in Atlanta, during the event. “And I’m sure this project, like fine wine, is going to be better because of it.”
Gellerstedt’s comments drew many chuckles from the approximately 75 people attending the morning ceremony. Now that Carolina Square is poised to become a reality, they could finally smile at the time spent in public meetings, rezoning hearings and on the special permit process since 2009, getting the necessary approvals for the construction of the $100 million multi-use project.
“Franklin Street has always been the place where Carolina, the University, meets the world,” said Chancellor Carol L. Folt in her opening remarks. “It’s a place where we welcome it in.”
Folt praised the planning process that led to a Carolina Square design that combines apartments, office space, retail, parking and an urban park. “I have to say, when we try to do something, we try to do everything,” she said. “That’s our way.”
A few minutes later, the five speakers left the sheltered platform for the hard-packed earth of the construction site. The dignitaries, smiling and squinting in the bright sun, donned hard hats, picked up Carolina blue-tipped shovels and broke ground symbolically for the cameras – clearing the way for the real construction to begin.
Carolina Square will have three buildings, with 200,000 square feet of commercial space, 246 apartments and 880 parking spaces. All three buildings will be designed to meet sustainable construction standards, the office to LEED Silver and the retail and residential to Green Globe requirements. To the west, almost one acre of landscaped green space will be open to the public.
The two six-story buildings on Franklin Street will have retail on the first floor and apartments above. The 10-story office building, on the interior of the site, will also house the parking deck. The University will rent half the office space for various units.
The new development will also house The Core@Carolina Square. The $5 million arts venue will include a 4,000-square-foot black box theater, a 3,000 square-foot rehearsal studio, an arts innovation lab and the Arts@The Core initiative, the Andrew Mellon Foundation-funded project that brings together academics and the arts.
“After we finish our celebration today, this construction equipment will come to life, and Carolina Square will begin to take shape,” said Dwight Stone, chair of the University Board of Trustees.
Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt recalled a time when this part of downtown “didn’t feel like the rest of Franklin Street.” Gesturing across the street to 140 West Franklin — the town’s redevelopment (with Ram Real Estate) of a municipal parking lot into a space for retail, condominiums, a plaza and public art — the mayor said the two neighboring projects would finally “fill the missing gap.”
The speakers had fond memories of the former retail occupants of the now demolished University Square. David Ravin, president and CEO of Northwood Ravin, Triangle-based partner with Cousins in the development, grew up in Durham and came with his family to eat at Time Out and Swensen’s Ice Cream.
“If someone’s asking you where this project is, say ‘the old Time Out location,’” he said.
Carolina Square will also be a source of memories like those, Ravin said. “I look forward to assembling here with you all again in 2017 when we open the doors and turn on the lights for future generations,” he said.
