By Elizabeth Shestak, via The Chapel Hill News
CHAPEL HILL — Hulene Hill, 60, and her husband, Ed Akins, 72, are not sure how many more summers they’ll be able to spend in Manhattan.
The jetset couple has rented an apartment there for eight years, but realistically understand they won’t be able to travel as easily as they get older. But they’re not upset — they have Chapel Hill to look forward to, along with the urban, apartment lifestyle they enjoy so much in New York.
The couple has reserved a two-bedroom, two-and-one-half bathroom condominium in 140 West Franklin, a development that will be located where public parking lot 5 currently sits at the corner of Church and West Franklin Street.
“It’s because we like city living,” Hill said. She and her husband live in the downtown historic district just a few blocks from the new development but are looking forward to having everything they need on one level. No more taking the trash to the curb or fussing with the yard.
“You think Chapel Hill is about as opposite as Manhattan but it isn’t,” Hill said. Theater, restaurants, and free public transportation are all readily available downtown. It’s also close to the airport, she said, and perhaps most importantly, not full of old people. They did not want to recuse themselves from a diverse, energetic society just because they are moving into their retirement years.
This is just one of the demographics taking an interest in 140 West Franklin, said Phil Patterson, broker in charge of the development. Others include young professionals, folks looking for a second home, UNC alumni, empty nesters and people just looking to make an investment.
Mike James and his wife, Barbara, fit into a number of those groups. With their children grown, and him nearing retirement, the couple plans on using their fifth-floor condominium as a second home for the foreseeable future. Their four bedroom house in Raleigh isn’t going on the market anytime soon, but they liked the idea of having a place to “crash” in Chapel Hill when they come into town for all of the football and basketball games they attend.
“I think it will be quite enjoyable,” said James, a Raleigh pharmacist. “There’s a uniqueness, as you know, about a college town.”
It also seems like a good investment. “I’m an optimist at heart,” he said. He hopes the economy will turn around, but even if it doesn’t for a while they’ll be OK. As an added bonus, the condo will overlook the N.C. Pharmacy Association building where he often speaks.
When asked if the downturn in the housing market and economy has affected sales, the answer from Ram, the development company behind the project, is not really.
Ram has 25 percent of the units pre-sold with $5,000 deposits. Michael Hammon, chief development officer for Ram Realty Services, said if the economy were stronger, they perhaps would have needed 30 or 40 percent of the units reserved before breaking ground. Now, the banks want 50 percent.
Traffic has been steady since the sales gallery opened at 126 W. Franklin St. in early October, said Patterson. The gallery lets potential buyers see what design options are available for carpets, hardwood flooring, cabinets, tiling and other aesthetic details. There are more than 40 possible layouts, but you can see a model living room, kitchen and bathroom, as well as the BlueVue fireplace that will be in the BlueVue lounge, a bar that will be open to both residents and outside patrons.
The condos range from 931 square-foot one-bedroom units to 3,334 square-foot, two-story penthouses, priced from $360,000 to $1.8 million.
Like all residential developments in Chapel Hill, 15 percent are to be affordable housing units available to residents making less than 80 percent of the median income. Those units will be one or two bedrooms ranging from 560 to 800 square feet, costing $85,000 to $105,000, said Robert Dowling, director of the Orange Community Housing and Land Trust.
The project has been in the works, on some level, since the 1990s when the town began looking at areas to develop in the heart of downtown to both increase the business tax base and also attract people to actually live there.
“One important goal was the creation of a public gathering space,” said Town Council member Bill Strom. The shops and restaurants on the first floor, along with open areas for art installations, outdoor markets and live music will help achieve this, he said, and “the town benefits by having an underutilized asset redeveloped.”
The developers are to include the same number of public parking spaces in the new building as currently exist in Lot 5. And for those who have tailgated there for years, 140 West Franklin plans to give those groups a commemorative brick, and wants to hear from folks about their favorite Franklin Street moments for its website. The plan is for 140 West Franklin to only add to them.