Developer breaks ground on $500M project bringing new homes, businesses to Chapel Hill

A new neighborhood offering more places to live, work and catch a bus to UNC and downtown Chapel Hill got its official launch Tuesday across from Southern Village.

At a ceremonial potting bench in a clearing just off U.S. 15-501, representatives from Beechwood Organzation and Beechwood Carolinas joined Chapel Hill Mayor Jessica Anderson to break ground on South Creek, a $500 million, 43-acre mixed-use development with an 80-acre natural preserve.

The N.C. Native Plants Society gathered plants from the land this summer, some of which were potted Tuesday. The plants will be saved and replanted in Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, said Aaron Nelson, president of the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro.

“I just love the fact that we are infiltrating, sending some of our growing plant life from Chapel Hill over to our friends at Duke, to grow and be nurtured and near their Gothic architecture,” Nelson said.

Construction crews will start the groundwork at South Creek later this month. The first building will be apartments with 10,000-square-feet of ground-floor retail across the highway from Southern Village’s Market Street business district, said Steven Dubb, principal and president of The Beechwood Organization.

Work on the condominiums could start in 2025, he said.

Retail, restaurants and a public park

The full buildout of South Creek will take several years, adding 120 apartments for rent and 606 condominiums and 89 townhomes for sale. The market-rate townhomes and condos could cost from the $300,000s to over $1 million, development officials said.

Over 100 housing units — 15% of the condos and townhouses and 10% of the apartments — will be priced at below market rates.

South Creek’s business district will include 21,000 to 52,000 square feet of commercial and retail space, with a public lawn and a plaza for outdoor dining. That includes a 6,000-square-foot restaurant with a terrace overlooking Wilson Creek and the park, Dubb said.

The retail mix should complement businesses in Southern Village, which include Weaver Street Market, coffee shops and restaurants, retail and entertainment, he noted.

The 80-acre public nature preserve and trails, as well as Wilson Creek, will be an amenity for residents and the public, Dubb said. More green spaces will be located near the Sumac Road intersection, where co-working and pop-up business space is possible.

South Creek replaced Obey Creek

South Creek occupies a similar footprint that the Town Council approved in 2015 for Obey Creek, which was expected to bring about 700 apartments and over 1 million square feet of retail, offices and hotel rooms to the site.

Obey Creek developer East West Partners went through a multiyear public process to secure a development agreement from the town before failing to find the retail and office tenants needed to start construction.

In 2021, Obey Creek Ventures LLC sold the land to Beechwood Obey Creek LLC, a subsidiary of Beechwood Organization, for $7.25 million, county records showed.

Beechwood originally came to the town with a plan for 350 senior townhomes, but the council asked for more density and a diverse housing mix for individuals and families, Dubb said. It was unlike what they had encountered in other communities that also wrestled with housing and affordability, but “pay lip service to the issue and kick the can down the road,” he said.

What local officials are saying

▪ South Creek will “truly be transformative ,” Anderson said, noting the affordable housing and 80-acre park. “It’s a huge win for Chapel Hill and an amazing model of what Complete Community is all about,” she said, referring to the town’s strategy for housing that serves all residents and neighborhoods that don’t require a car to get around.

▪ It isn’t hard to get a project done in Chapel Hill , “if you engage the community and the neighbors, if you work with the Town Council, if you show the community that you share their values, if you ... read the plans for our community in advance,” Nelson said. “This organization has done that, and came out of some council meetings with lipstick all over them ... and everybody was enjoying bringing to our community what we long desired.”

More project details

▪ A variety of housing types and sizes. 1-, 2- and 3-bedroom apartments and condos from 525 to 2,725 square feet; 3-bedroom townhouses with rooftop terraces and garages from 1,600 to 2,900 square feet.

▪ Roughly half of the affordable housing will be sold or rented to people earning 65% of the area median income and the other half will be sold or rented to people earning 80% of AMI — up to $59,360 a year for an individual or $76,320 for a family of three. Housing vouchers will be accepted.

▪ Amenities include green spaces , including an open lawn for events and entertainment and the 80-acre preserve. Three swimming pools, splash pads, a fitness center, game rooms, communal work spaces, and podcasting studios, plus a large outdoor space for food truck rodeos, farmers markets, festivals and other events.

▪ A memorial honors 1960s civil rights protests at the Watts Motor Court and Restaurant previously located on the site.

▪ Connections for cars, bus riders and pedestrians include three driveways, a full intersection at Market Street and a left-turn only intersection at Sumac Road, with a pedestrian refuge and activated traffic signals. Bus stops and the Southern Village park-and-ride lot are within walking distance, and a future bus-rapid transit station is planned at Market Street.

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