Ground broken for Bicycle Apartments

UNC students in search of off-campus housing will soon have another option — the Bicycle Apartments on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

At a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday, members of Trinitas Ventures LLC, a real estate development company based in Indiana, spoke about their excitement in opening the new student-specific apartments so close to campus.

“I really like the demographics and the scholastic attitude of UNC students,” said Travis Vencel, Trinitas’ vice president of development.

After a multi-year development process, Trinitas representatives said they will be ready to open the apartments in August 2014.

Aaron Nelson, president and chief executive officer of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, said Chapel Hill residents want convenient and environmentally-conscious housing on existing transportation lines.

“You all are making a $20 million investment in our community,” Nelson said in a speech at the groundbreaking. “Our community has said out loud what we wanted for a long time … You have brought to us what we said we wanted.”

Located at 602 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., the Bicycle Apartments will have 194 units in one- to four-bedroom apartments available for rent.

Mark Larson, Trinitas’ chief financial officer, said students will be able to take company-owned shuttles running throughout the day and late night directly to and from campus. The use of bicycles — as the name of the complex suggests — is encouraged, and room for over 400 bicycles will be supplied. The apartments will also be highly energy efficient.

Larson said the success of similar models for apartment complexes in university towns convinced his company that the Chapel Hill development would be supported by the community.

“This model was very successful in Bloomington, Indiana, a city very similar to Chapel Hill, so we wanted to bring it here, as well,” said Larson.

Meg McGurk, executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, spoke at the event about her excitement for the addition of the Bicycle Apartments to Chapel Hill.

“It’s the people, it’s the vitality, it’s those that live, work and play downtown that … we want to foster in our community,” McGurk said. “That’s why the Bicycle Apartments was such an easy win for our community because it’s the people and the activities inside of these building … that we want in our downtown.”