By Kirk Ross
Staff Writer
CARRBORO — At it’s meeting Tuesday night at Town Hall, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen cleared the way for additions to the former VisArt Video space at 300 East Main St., opening the door for a possible expansion and move of Cat’s Cradle along with other changes at the property.
The board approved a change to the center’s existing conditional-use permit to allow owners Main Street Partners to expand the front of the current Cradle and the former VisArt space out to the edge of the existing canopy and construct additional space at the back of the property. VisArt closed its doors last month.
Laura Van Sant of Main Street Partners said the expansion and move is one of several options under consideration as owners prepare for a much larger expansion on the site.
“With VisArt empty, it gave us some options,†she said. “Right now, there are no firm plans for the Cradle move or anything happening at the building.â€
Although the VisArt space is slightly smaller than the existing Cradle, the expansion approved Tuesday night would raise the floor space from 6,400 square feet to 8,800 square feet. In approving the plan, the town waived town parking rules that would have required five more spaces at the site.
Van Sant said Main Street Partners went ahead with the request so that it could move quickly once any decision is made.
“We wanted to make sure we had all the boxes checked,†Van Sant said. “But even for this space, nothing is finalized.â€
She said there is also hope that the major development planned at the site could start moving forward soon. The proposal, including a hotel and parking deck located on the easternmost portion of the site, have been stalled since credit markets tightened following the town’s approval of the development in 2008.
“There seems to be a thaw in credit,†Van Sant said, adding that Main Street Partners could have an announcement about the project coming within the next month.