Chapel Hill Approves New Downtown Apartment Complex

by Adriana Pop, Associate Editor

The Town Council in Chapel Hill unanimously approved the construction of Shortbread Lofts, an 85-unit apartment complex on West Rosemary Street.

The development takes advantage of the strength of the Chapel Hill apartment market, which is experiencing low vacancy rates. The project’s target renters are both students and university employees.

The seven-story downtown building will replace an existing 22-unit apartment complex and an office building, The NewsObserver reports. It will include a retail area as well as 121 parking spaces. Construction is expected to break ground in late May or early June, with completion planned before the beginning of the 2013-14 school year.

Larry Short partnered with brothers Bill and Roy Piscitello, owners of Breadmen’s restaurant, in the development of the project. Short has also developed a 54-unit apartment building across the street from the Shortbread Lofts site. The building has remained near full occupancy since its 1999 opening.

In regional news, Grubb Properties recently bought the Edinburgh Center corporate park in Cary for $7 million. The 115,027-square-feet center includes four office buildings built between 1984 and 1991. Grubb Properties purchased the buildings from an Asheville investment group led by Charles Archerd.

Sam Crutchfield of Grubb Properties says each building will be upgraded in order to attract more tenants. According to the Triangle Business Journal, the property was 69 percent occupied in December, much lower than the area’s 79 percent average occupancy rate.

Rockwell Automation and Erie Insurance are among the center’s largest tenants. The rest of the space is leased to a number of service organizations.

The Triangle Business Journal reports that Grubb Properties secured its purchase with a $5 million loan from Symetra Life Insurance Co. The real estate broker who represented the seller in the transaction was Jim McMillan with Grubb & Ellis/Thomas Linderman Graham.

Photo Courtesy of Caroline Culler via Wikimedia Commons