Could nonprofit move to make way for apartments near Chapel Hill’s Blue Hill District?

A Texas-based developer wants to build a five-story apartment building next to Chapel Hill’s Blue Hill District that also could include affordable housing or work space for residents with special needs.

Spike LLC owns just over four acres on three lots at 200 S. Elliott Road. Two of the lots are undeveloped; the third is home to Extraordinary Ventures, a nonprofit that provides employment and job skills to adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Extraordinary Ventures could move into a new home if the developer’s plans advance, said Dan Hatley, its board president.

Trinsic Residential Group, a Texas-based development company, has the land under contract and recently submitted a concept plan for the project, Aura South Elliott.

The plan calls for roughly 330 apartments and a 495-space parking deck. It would have access for cars from South Elliott Road, with another connection for bikes and pedestrians off Couch Road.

Trinsic also proposes to include a semi-public park around a stream on the property, with potentially a rain garden, sitting areas and shade trees.

An alternative affordable housing plan could provide apartments leased at a rate affordable to individuals and families earning up to 65% and 80% of the area median income — an individual earning up to $53,520 a year, or a family of four earning up to $76,400.

A concept plan is not an official application, but a rough sketch that allows the developer to seek feedback from the Town Council and the town’s Community Design Commission.

The commission could review the project Tuesday, Feb. 28. A council review is tentatively scheduled for March 8.

The project would require the Town Council to rezone the property to R-6 conditional zoning, or to make it part of the Blue Hill district that allows up to seven stories of residential construction. District rules require projects to set aside at least 10% of the floor space for commercial uses, such as office or retail space.

The current zoning allows office and institutional uses, as well as residential projects with up to seven units.

Extraordinary Ventures future

Landowner Spike LLC, is operated by Chapel Hill residents Gregg and Lori Ireland. The Irelands have a son with autism spectrum disorder and have played a significant role in the growth of Extraordinary Ventures. Gregg Ireland is on the board of directors.

Hatley reached out to The News & Observer on Wednesday to say Extraordinary Ventures “is in a very strong position right now.”

The organization never saw the space as a long-term home and formed a visioning committee several months ago to talk about the future, he said. The approval process could take a year or more once an official application is submitted to the town.

The focus, he said, remains on employment opportunities for its roughly 50 members, although Extraordinary Ventures could work in the future with other groups to address a critical need for housing that serves people with disabilities.

“We’ve been tooling around the idea of building a space that was specific for the organization, moving into other retail space that would put us even more in contact with the community,” Hatley said. “With the knowledge that an offer has been placed on the property, that has accelerated our timeline, but we feel very comfortable in terms of being able to find a replacement if this deal ever goes through.”

Lisa Kaylie, executive director of Extraordinary Ventures, said she also is positive about the organization’s future. The current location is not “critical to our existence,” Kaylie said, noting that most South Elliott Road operations, such as the laundry business, “are extremely flexible.”

There’s also the possibility of more contracted services that give adults with developmental disabilities the opportunity to work and interact with more people in the community, she added.

“I think that would not make us go away. It would just have us find a new location and reinvent ourselves in a different way, which could even have its positive sides,” Kaylie said. “I have no concern about the future of Extraordinary Ventures.”

The Irelands own roughly a dozen parcels across Chapel Hill through Spike LLC, including 151 E. Rosemary St., lots at 310 and 214 W. Franklin St., and six lots on Weaver Dairy Road.

The latter includes a mobile home park that was under threat of redevelopment several years ago. The developer talked with town staff and housing advocates about the concept plan for Hanover Chapel Hill but never filed an official application.

Blue Hill District or rezoning

Projects in the town’s Blue Hill District do not require council review or approval. Instead, developers of those projects follow a form-based code for how to construct buildings in the district and how to ensure they blend into the surrounding streetscape.

Blue Hill projects require approvals from the town’s Community Design Commission and the town manager. Trinsic currently is seeking approval for another Blue Hill project — Aura Blue Hill — which includes 297 apartments and a small amount of commercial space.

A third project — Aura Chapel Hill — is under construction now at the northeastern corner of Estes Drive and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The project is approved for roughly 419 apartments and over 15,800 square feet of retail and office space.

The northern and eastern sides of South Elliott Road are already part of the Blue Hill District, which stretches from East Franklin Street and South Elliott Road to Fordham Boulevard, Ephesus Church Road and Legion Road.

Although land west of South Elliott Road was part of the original district plan, it was removed before the district was approved in 2014. Extraordinary Ventures is next to the State Employees Credit Union branch and across the street from the Berkshire Chapel Hill apartment building, the first form-based code project built in the district.

Building height, in addition to traffic, will be a key issue for any development proposed for the western side of Elliott Road, since the land there is at a higher elevation than land on the Blue Hill side of the road. It’s also home to multiple small businesses, a daycare and a residential health care center.

The council has previously discussed adding the western side of South Elliott Road to the district, with developers able to get a density bonus if they include affordable housing.

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