Chapel Hill, North Carolina
August 18th, 2010, News Observer
Developers plan housing, more office space and a grassy gathering place for downtown as part of a new 123 W. Franklin St., the current home of the University Square shopping center.
November 11th, 2009, The Daily Tar Heel
As UNC mulls redevelopment plans for University Square, the property could see a flurry of development by 2014 — or none at all. Now that the University finds itself involved with a mixed-use development in Chapel Hill on top of its expansive vision at the satellite Carolina North campus, it will be hard pressed to find the funds to fully complete its ambitious development agenda.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/university-square-plans-lack-money
November 2nd, 2009, The Daily Tar Heel
Town leaders have identified increasing the amount of parking downtown as key to the economic development of Chapel Hill. With its plans for University Square Plaza, UNC’s administration is hoping to provide an answer to their call. Renovations at the square will add multi-level parking decks to increase the amount of parking in downtown Chapel Hill by about 300 spaces. It’s meant to help meet demand from downtown visitors — but it won’t address the continued desire for student and University parking.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/university-square-plans-add-300-parking-spots
October 25th, 2009, The Chapel Hill Herald
University Square is still open. Really open. While we have lots of ideas for the site, we're still at the beginning of the process. So there's never been a better time for a Time Out biscuit, a haircut or a new pocketbook from Fine Feathers. ...That's why as we look at making changes at 123 West Franklin, the site of the current University Square shopping center (including Time Out) and Granville Towers student housing, I want to reassure the tenants there, and their happy customers, that we want to keep them in business as we make their venue more attractive.(Holden Thorp is chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
October 18th, 2009, The Chapel Hill News
The future University Square is little more than a pile of ideas floating around town right now. Yet, you'd probably be safe betting a dollar that it will include a grocery store. ...The 12-acre tract fronting Franklin Street was purchased recently by the UNC Chapel Hill Foundation and a development partner, Cousins Properties, of Atlanta. Those firms have hired an architect, Boston-based Elkus Manfredi, to start crafting plan.
October 15th, 2009, The Chapel Hill Herald
When UNC announced that it was buying the Franklin Street property now known as University Square, it promised to give citizens plenty of chances to express their opinions about how the redevelopment should proceed. On Thursday residents got their first chance to weigh in on redevelopment of the 12-acre tract during a brainstorming session attended by more than 75 people, including many of the property's current tenants. "This is that process we developed to engage the public," said Gordon Merklein, UNC's executive director of real estate development.
Related Links:
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12107
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/public-divided-university-square
UNC Release:
October 15th, 2009, The Chapel Hill Herald
While the town of Chapel Hill is still plodding along with its ambitious redevelopment plans for downtown's Parking Lot 5, UNC is methodically plotting a course for how to reconfigure the adjacent 12-acre University Square plot. ...Meanwhile, UNC held the first of three meetings on Thursday to gather public input on the University Square redesign. A second will be held in 10 to 14 weeks, and the final public speak-out will be held in the spring.
October 14th, 2009, WCHL 1360-AM (Chapel Hill)
Cousins Properties Incorporated, which is teaming up with Chapel Hill Foundation Real Estate Holdings, is inviting local residents to share their input at a public meeting as the firms begin the redevelopment phase of University Square located on Franklin Street. Gordon Merklein, executive director for real estate development at UNC, says for the needs of Chapel Hill residents to be met, the input of residents is necessary.
http://www.wchl1360.com/detailswide.html?id=12086
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UNC Release:
October 6th, 2009, The Chapel Hill Herald
UNC and Cousins Properties, the university’s development partner on reshaping University Square, will host two public meetings to discuss the redevelopment at 3:30 and 7 p.m. Oct. 15. The meetings will be held in Suite 133-G of University Square, next to Ken’s Quickie Mart.
http://www.heraldsun.com/pages/full_story/push?article-BRIEFCASE%20&id=3849093-BRIEFCASE
UNC Release:
September 20th, 2009, The Chapel Hill News
The coming renovation of University Square has the potential to turn an architecturally outmoded retail and office space into one better integrated with the rest of Franklin Street. ...The Chapel Hill Foundation, a nonprofit arm of UNC, bought the 12-acre tract, which includes not only the shopping plaza but also the Granville Towers student housing buildings behind it. The foundation has hired a Boston-based architecture firm to redevelop the property.
September 15th, 2009, The Chapel Hill News
A Boston architecture firm has been tapped to come up with a new design for University Square. Elkus Manfredi Architects was selected from six finalists to design the mixed-use development on the 12-acre plot along Franklin Street currently home to the shopping plaza and Granville Towers....The Chapel Hill foundation is a non-profit arm of UNC. It bought the land for about $46 million and plans to rework an area officials say is dated.
http://www.chapelhillnews.com/news/story/52273.html
UNC Release:
September 13th, 2009, The News & Observer (Raleigh)
An architect has been selected to design a new University Square in Chapel Hill. The Chapel Hill Foundation Real Estate Holdings and its development partner, Cousins Properties, have hired Boston-based Elkus Manfredi Architects....The 12-acre tract is currently home to the University Square shopping center and Granville Towers, a private residence hall complex.
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/campusnotes/at-unc-ch-a-designer-chosen-for-university-square
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UNC Release:
September 10th, 2009, The Daily Tar Heel
An architecture firm that has worked with Duke University and Disney has been chosen to redesign the 12-acre lot that includes University Square and Granville Towers. Elkus Manfredi was chosen this week out of six finalists because it had the plan that best incorporated the site’s many uses — office space, retail and housing — into a single vision, said Gordon Merklein, executive director of real estate for the University.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/planner-chosen-redo-square
September 7th, 2009, The Daily Tar Heel
Now that University Square and Granville Towers are owned by the UNC-Chapel Hill Foundation, plans are in motion to mostly demolish and rebuild the site. The plans for the 12 acres include triple the retail space, a multi-level parking deck with 300 more spots and more than 200,000 square feet of office space. This week, one of six architect finalists will be selected to carry out the vision, said Gordon Merklein, executive director for real estate at the University.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/plans-university-square-ground
August 10th, 2009, The Daily Tar Heel (Editorial)
Granville Towers and University Square are an eyesore, but the University shouldn’t rush to demolish the towers or the square now that it controls the property. University officials are currently deliberating on a plan for the space. The property’s current design is an inefficient use of land, but officials have several ideas to improve it, including new student housing, more retail space, a new parking deck or an arts venue. There are also some ideas out there to turn the property — or at least part of it — into market-value housing. This is a bad idea. It might provide funds for the University, but it doesn’t serve the community.
http://www.dailytarheel.com/content/square-deal-university-square-development-must-serve-many
June 30th, 2009, The Chapel Hill News
With a 20-year plan for Carolina North approved, the university today takes ownership of another major piece of Chapel Hill real estate, the University Square and Granville Towers property near the center of downtown. Technically, the new owner is the UNC Foundation, a separate entity that manages the endowment and funnels private donations into the university's coffers. The foundation is buying the 12-acre site for $46 million from the estate of Frank Kenan, the late entrepreneur and UNC benefactor.
May 14th, 2009, Triangle Business Journal
Downtown Chapel Hill’s University Square is likely to be demolished and replaced with a mixed-use development abutting the sidewalks of Franklin Street under plans being developed by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
http://triangle.bizjournals.com/triangle/stories/2009/05/18/story3.html