Greenbridge walls, property vandalized

An already controversial plot of land has taken another shot this weekend — this time from vandals.

Damages to the Greenbridge development totaled about $11,000 after it was spray-painted in several areas Saturday night, including 14 concrete columns, 21 walls, five doors and a fork lift, according to Chapel Hill police reports.

Mark Vevle, spokesman for Greenbridge Developments, said the paint was cleaned off during the weekend.

“I know it was fixed up pretty fast by our staff and the Chapel Hill police,” Vevle said.

He said he didn’t know what the graffiti depicted or said.

Construction of the two-building, multistory condominium and retail complex began in 2008, adjacent to the Northside neighborhood on Rosemary Street.

The development, which will open its doors this spring, has attracted mostly middle-class residents to the historically black and low-income part of town.

Since then, Greenbridge has angered some locals and activists who believe the project is an example of gentrification, conforming an area to a middle class taste.

Saturday’s vandalism is not the first act of disapproval directed toward Greenbridge.

C.J. Cuitti, member of United with the Northside Community Now, said he recalled one tag on the building last year reading, “Greedbridge is racist.”

He said it is still unclear what message vandals were trying to send to Greenbridge and the community Saturday.

Vevle said he was not too concerned with the graffiti and had not even visited the site since the tagging was done.

Cuitti said he thinks the Northside community still resents the progress of Greenbridge.

“It seemed like they were using this idea of ‘going green’ to push people out of the town that have been there forever,” he said.

Cuitti said he thought the incident was most likely a reaction from community members who were fed up with the presence of Greenbridge as opposed to outsiders protesting on behalf of Northside residents.

Chapel Hill police could not be reached for information about possible leads or suspects.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.