Chapel Hill could host Costco

Although Carrboro has been passed over as a potential residence for Costco, the big-box retailer could one day call Chapel Hill home.

With a population of more than 51,000 people and access to U.S. 15-501, Chapel Hill could be a more enticing option for the retailer, said Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton.

With many locations around the world, Costco is a membership warehouse club that sells brand-name products at low prices.

“They have standards for what kind of locations they choose, and most locations are on busy highways with high-end consumers driving on them,” Chilton said, “Sites along 15-501 between Chatham County and Durham are what they are interested in.”

Chilton said representatives from Costco decided that N.C. 54 in Carrboro didn’t get enough traffic to justify building a new store.

N.C. Sen. Ellie Kinnaird, D-Orange, led the campaign to bring Costco to Orange County, but the movement slowed earlier this year after Costco found Carrboro an unsuitable location.

While Chapel Hill may have more potential, Kinnaird said she’s done trying to gain support for the idea.

“I’ve done what I can,” Kinnaird said. “I’m out of it. I can only bring up the subject and hope that they’ll carry through.”

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said Costco has yet to contact the town regarding the possibility of building a store.

“We’re not in a place where they’re knocking at our door asking to come in right now,” Kleinschmidt said.

Kinnaird said even without her efforts, Chapel Hill residents and officials should lobby for the store.

She said a Costco would create jobs, stimulate Chapel Hill’s economy and alleviate the burden on homeowners to generate the majority of the town’s operating revenue through property taxes.

“It would keep our money here, keep our people from driving other places, provide jobs and lower taxes,” Kinnaird said.

Kleinschmidt said the key to attracting businesses like Costco to Chapel Hill lies in small area planning processes for locations like Rams Plaza on Fordham Boulevard, an area frequently affected by heavy traffic.

“As we encourage a new development for that area, we want to fix those kinds of issues, and then see whether or not something like Costco could fit in there,” Kleinschmidt said.

Other potential locations for Costco include a 30-acre tract of land on Eubanks Road and a site across from Southern Village, said Chapel Hill Economic Development Officer Dwight Bassett.

Regardless of location, Bassett said the process would take time.

“My experience says that we need to have a site targeted and perhaps even planned for this type of retail development before we can get serious with recruitment,” Bassett said.

“We need to be within a couple of years of them being able to open, which means basically either an approved site or a potential building under construction.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.