The Chapel Hill Town Council recently unanimously approved a zoning application for a proposed affordable housing community close to downtown. The three acre property envisions being an attractive addition to town, while also allowing for more workforce housing.
Hillside Trace plans to bring 190 affordable units to 607-617 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The site is currently home to individual houses and their parking spaces, and the project aims to provide community-centered apartments that are walkable to downtown, parks, and UNC’s campus.
Proposed rendering of Hillside Trace, facing downtown. (Photo via Taft Mills Group and Community Home Trust.)
The proposed development would also serve households earning 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) or less. Leading the presentation at the May 7 meeting, Taft Mills Group’s Vice President of Development Nate Broman-Fulks described Hillside Trace as a historic opportunity for the town.
“This would be the most amount of affordable housing in a single development in Chapel Hill’s history, and it’s in just about the best location that it could possibly be,” Broman-Fulks said. “We are really excited about this. It’s consistent with the town’s future land-use map, it’s consistent with the town’s comprehensive plan. It will help meet a dire need that the town has in affordable housing.”
The Chapel Hill-based affordable housing nonprofit, Community Home Trust, is the county’s primary provider of affordable homeownership and will partner with developer Taft Mills Group on the project. A single apartment building with one, two, and three bedroom units, the property would also feature exercise facilities, community rooms, and playground equipment, as well as structured parking on the lower levels.
A rendering of the proposed Hillside Trace, facing the development. (Photo via Taft Mills Group and Community Home Trust.)
Because the area near the site is a well-traveled one, located along the future North-South Bus Rapid Transit System, Broman-Fulks said it will be important to activate the outdoor space with a patio, amenities, and community spaces.
“Our goal was to create a community that was not only attractive, but utilizes the site in the best way and can be something that Chapel Hill can be proud of for many years to come,” Broman-Fulks said. “It’s a very visible site. Lots of folks are going to see this.”
The council members admired most aspects of the proposed development, particularly its affordability, design, and community gathering spaces. Council Member Elizabeth Sharp said she believes the property will be an asset to non-residents as well.
“As the rendering exists and I hope it is as close to that as you can make it, the way that the sidewalk and the street interface, I think that’s actually going to be a huge improvement on the way that MLK functions right now,” Sharp said. “And [it] will add a more pedestrian-friendly stretch to that part of MLK because of the amount of trees you put between bodies in what is a very wide, busy street right there.”
But one question from the council member centered on who the property will serve. While acknowledging the need for student housing, Sharp described the development as an “amazing opportunity” to have workforce housing close to downtown.
Across the street from the proposed development are several student housing communities, like University Apartments, Lark Chapel Hill, and Union Chapel Hill, and Sharp added how she wants to maintain a balance of the two housing types along the road.
Citing how the property is a four-percent tax credit development, Broman-Fulks said it may be difficult for students to live in the affordable units because they would need to make a working wage and a qualifying household cannot be composed only of full-time students.
Taft Mills Group wants Hillside Trace to serve the people who need it the most, Broman-Fulks added, and right now, he said working families in Chapel Hill are struggling to find a place to live.
To view the full Town Council meeting, click here.
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