140 West development granted zoning permit

Developers of 140 West Franklin received an early Christmas present when the town issued a long-awaited zoning permit, but holiday shoppers could feel a pinch in parking as a result.

Ram Development Company cleared the last hurdle standing between it and the start of construction on 140 West on Friday when they received a zoning compliance permit from the Town of Chapel Hill after weeks of delays.

Closure of a section of town-owned Parking Lot 5, where the development will be located, is set to take effect Dec. 15, said town engineer Jay Gibson. The lot is located at the intersection of Franklin and Church streets.

Full closure of the lot will take place on Jan. 3, around the same time construction will begin on the new development.

“One of the things we’ve been working very hard on is that phased-approach closing to assure there would still be some parking available during the holiday season,” Gibson said.

The 103 hourly and leased parking spaces that will be lost with the lot’s closure will be redistributed throughout the town so no parking is lost during construction, though some of the new spots are farther away from the heart of downtown.

“We’re also in the process of finalizing some signage that will go up within the next week or so,” Gibson said. The signs will show shoppers, visitors and students where the parking has been relocated.

The 140 West development combines public, commercial and living spaces with the goal of recharging the downtown atmosphere.

The structure will stand eight stories tall at its highest point and contain 140 units of upscale condominiums, 26,000 square feet of ground-level retail space and 337 private and public parking spaces.

Eighteen units of affordable housing dedicated to the Community Home Trust are also included in the development’s number of units.

The approved construction plan allows for closing a section of Church Street for about 12 to 15 months, a shorter period of time than the original plan’s 24-month closure.

“What Ram (Development) had wanted to begin with was to close it during the whole period of the construction, but the approved construction plan means it won’t be closed during the whole time of construction,” said Melanie Miller, a spokeswoman for the town.

Gibson said the date the stretch of Church Street located between West Franklin and Rosemary streets will close has yet to be determined.

“Right now the exact date will obviously depend on how quickly the development company mobilizes and gets to work,” he said.

One lane of Church Street will reopen in later phases of construction.

In the meantime, pedestrians can expect the sidewalks bordering the work site to close once construction begins.

The walkways on Rosemary and Church streets located across from the site will remain open. The new paths were created over the summer and in early October, respectively, to help maintain traffic flow during work on the site.

Kendria Sweet, a spokeswoman for the company, said construction of the development is still slated to be completed within two years despite the delays in the permitting process.

Developers originally forecasted construction to begin in October when they appeared at a July public meeting about the project.

“They’ve made some changes to the construction schedule,” Sweet said. “They’ve just tightened up some extra windows. They’ve put more strict deadlines on other areas.”

Sweet said 51 condominiums have been purchased, not including the 18 units that are designated as affordable housing.

“We told our homeowners that they would be in, in two years, and we’re going to be make that happen,” she said.

Gibson said waiting for information needed to properly review the developer’s permit request contributed to the delay in the process.

“It’s obviously a very complicated process,” he said. “We were waiting on certain items from the developer, and until those items arrived, we were unable to finish process the permits.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.