More apartments, townhomes approved for busy Chapel Hill-Durham highway corridor

A newly approved project will create almost two dozen affordable apartments within walking distance of shops, restaurants and regional bus stops in Chapel Hill.

The Town Council’s 6-2 vote to rezone 5101 Barbee Chapel Road allows developer Toll Brothers Apartment Living to build several apartment buildings and townhouses. The 10.5-acre site is across from the Finley Forest neighborhood, in the part of Chapel Hill inside the Durham County limits.

The complex will have 350 apartments and townhouses in three- to five-story buildings. The final plan approved May 24 cut parking to 446 spaces and designated 23 units for households earning up to 60% of the area median income — up to $42,480 a year for an individual and $60,660 a year for a family of four.

That replaced an earlier offer of 31 units for rent to families earning slightly higher wages. A third option to include 30 units, half renting at 65% and half at 80% AMI, did not get enough support.

Toll Brothers regional director Michael Skena told the council in April that more affordable housing is not possible because rents have stabilized, and financing and construction costs have increased.

Council member Camille Berry, who has worked for a nonprofit housing developer, voted against the project. She wanted more affordable units and a better way for people to walk to the Friday Center bus stop besides the current route, which crosses private property, she said.

The project will include a pedestrian crossing near Finley Forest and a multiuse path along its Barbee Chapel Road frontage, which has the potential to be extended about 100 yards to the crosswalks at N.C. 54 in the future.

Council member Adam Searing, who has maintained for over a year that the project is the wrong fit for the site because of its size and the large amount of parking, also voted against the rezoning.

Housing needs, density concerns

Only a few people commented on the project during recent hearings, including a property owner involved in the sale and another who lives near developer Northwood Ravin’s Hillmont project.

Hillmont would add 500 townhomes and apartments on 36 acres immediately east of the Barbee Chapel project. While council and advisory board reviews have not yet been scheduled, it also faces questions about affordable housing.

Northwood Ravin is offering to provide the town with land at Hillmont for affordable housing or to designate some of the housing that will be built for families earning 80% to 100% of the AMI — up to $81,300 a year for an individual or $116,200 a year for a family of four.

Council members are listening, in response to a report that found the town needs about 440 new homes a year to keep up with non-student demand. However, the greatest need is housing to serve people earning 80% or less of the AMI — up to $65,000 a year for a single person living in Chapel Hill, according to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development.

That’s nearly impossible for moderate-income families in Chapel Hill, where the average home sold for about $665,000 in April and there were fewer new homes on the market than in 2022, according to Triangle MLS, a Cary-based real estate listings platform. The average rent for a one-bedroom apartment was nearly $1,500, according to the online rental listing service Apartments.com.

The Barbee Chapel project doesn’t address those housing needs or reflect what neighbors want, resident Jodie Flick said Wednesday. She urged more starter homes for young families and townhouses for downsizing retirees to create greater density and investment, and also to preserve the natural environment.

“This proposed project is surrounded on every side by one- and two-story homes, condominiums and townhouses,” Flick said. “One of those neighborhoods of small homes has been there for more than 70 years, and the scale of the apartment buildings that they’re proposing and the extent of the destruction of the woodlands are completely out of character with everything else in the area.”

Project details

▪ Developer: Toll Brothers Apartment Living; Rockwood Development Group

▪ Location: 10.5 acres at 5101 Barbee Chapel Road

▪ Zoning: Residential use, but the proposed zoning would allow more housing and taller buildings

▪ Current use: Mostly wooded, with 10 single-family homes

▪ Approved use: 350 apartments and townhomes in 3- to 5-story buildings

▪ Affordable housing: 23 units, priced at 60% of the area median income, or up to $42,480 a year for an individual and $60,660 a year for a family of four. Housing vouchers would be accepted.

▪ Parking: 446 surface and garage parking spaces

▪ Getting around: Two driveways and a pedestrian and bike trail along Barbee Chapel Road, plus future connections to surrounding land. A pedestrian crossing with a flashing traffic signal is planned for a driveway near the Finley Forest community.

The Orange Report

Calling Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough readers! Check out The Orange Report, a free weekly digest of some of the top stories for and about Orange County published in The News & Observer and The Herald-Sun. Get your newsletter delivered straight to your inbox every Thursday at 11 a.m. featuring links to stories by our local journalists. Sign up for our newsletter here. For even more Orange-focused news and conversation, join our Facebook group "Chapel Hill Carrboro Chat."