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The Daily Tar Heel

Plans for University Square off ground

Granville Towers’ future in the air

Development of University Square
Development of University Square

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.

“It’s UNC, it’s the town, it’s the community,” Merklein said. “Everyone will feel this.”

The University didn’t know exactly what it would do with the property when they announced the $45.75 million purchase in June 2008.

But now large poster boards lean against the walls of Merklein’s office, each with a color-coded draft map of potential plans architects submitted for consideration. Planners are referring to it as 123 Franklin Street.

Some architects keep Granville Towers student housing intact while others tear it down and add some market-value housing and grass.

They are only ideas. But all put a spin on the University’s vision for the space: a site that will better connect with campus and with the rest of Franklin Street.

The University is looking for plans that bring businesses to the sidewalk to increase customer traffic, Merklein said.

There are 30,000 square feet of retail space now, but that number will increase to 90,000 or 100,000, he said.

The University will also try to convince current businesses, like the Time Out Restaurant, to stay.

Demand for parking spots downtown will increase as Lot 5, across from University Square, converts into a mixed-use development. So 123 Franklin Street will eventually be a central parking destination, Merklein said.

Passage to the University will be improved, too, so Granville residents don’t have to walk by a Fraternity Court dumpster.

Other components include a grocery store, some green space and a civic component like a movie theater or a museum.

The Ackland Art Museum has expressed interest in moving there, business director Suzanne Rucker said.

Plans will be tweaked after public info sessions this fall, and a final concept plan should be ready in the spring, Merklein said.

The University still hasn’t figured out how it will move more than 1,300 students to alternative housing if Granville Towers closes for construction.

“It‘s all kind of a coordinated dance,” housing director Larry Hicks said. “We need to take into consideration what’s going on there, they need to take into consideration what’s going on here.”

Hicks isn’t sure what kind of person it will house — underclassmen, graduates, post-doctorate students or faculty.

It could be 2014 before anything moves.

“It has got to be economically feasible,” Merklein said.

And it won’t happen all at once.

“You’re going to see a deck go up, then a building,” Merklein said. “This is not a start all at once, finish all at once project.”


Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.

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