Chapel Hill residents evaluate plan for The Edge

By Derrick Bills | Published 26 minutes ago

Chapel Hill residents spoke out Monday night abouta proposed development on Eubanks Road that could include more than 900,000 square feet in over 20 buildings.

The Edge, which would sit on 55 acres of property, would provide housing, retail space and offices.

The supporters of the development said the developer, Northwood Ravin, is credible and has been involved in multiple other projects in Chapel Hill.

Including retail stores in this new development area is important to its success, said John McAdams, founder of the John R. McAdams Company. But nothing is set in stone at the moment, and Northwood Ravin will have to do some work to get businesses to build new store locations.

A significant amount of retail already exists in the greater Chapel Hill area, and the opportunities to land retail tenants is a lot lower here, McAdams said. The visibility is not usually what retailers want.

John Felton, director of design for Cline Design Associates, provided details about what the space will look like and what types of materials will be used in construction.

We have a requirement for a recreational area, he said. The guts of the project will be made up of great streets and public spaces.

Council member Maria Palmer said she was concerned about pedestrians and bikers having to cross such a busy intersection.

Bob Reinheimer, a resident of the Northwood neighborhood since 1983, said he was excited about the development at first but has started to second-guess it.

Read more here:
Chapel Hill residents evaluate plan for The Edge