The Chapel Hill Town Council approved a special-use permit that will allow the new owners of The Courtyard on West Franklin Street to convert much of the shopping, office and dining center’s upstairs space to apartments and construct a three-story parking deck off Roberson Street.
Approval by the council prior to the end of the year was sought by Franklin West LLC, which was set up by The Dilweg Companies, a Durham-based commercial real estate firm, to purchase and improve the property. The company had asked for the change, saying that solving The Courtyard’s long-running parking problems was a key requirement in its financing agreement.
A dispute over parking between former owner Spencer Young and P.H. Craig, who owns three adjacent parking lots, led to the unraveling of the finances of the center and triggered an exodus of businesses. At one point, the center had a vacancy rate of 90 percent. In 2008, Wachovia Bank foreclosed on the property.
The first phase of the project includes the construction of a three-story parking deck with 88 parking spaces and conversion of the second and third floors of the center to 13 apartments. A second phase of the project could add up to 7,132 square feet of floor area and one floor to the parking deck.
In other action last Monday, the council authorized the use of $45,500 for traffic-calming projects for Sedgefield Drive, Highgrove Road, Gardner Circle, Hillspring Lane, Gimghoul Road and Perry Creek Drive.
The council also adopted a formal code of ethics in compliance with new state ethics guidelines. — Staff Reports