The building, constructed in 1967 as the Chapel Hill Public Library, is in Chapel Hill’s historic district. It previously housed the Chapel Hill Museum and the Chapel Hill Historical Society.
As part of the process to finalize the foundation's purchase of the building, a proposal to change the property from a public facility into a general office building had to be passed by the town council.
“We’ve been working on it for almost four and a half months now,” said Rob Parker, senior associate dean for development in the College of Arts and Sciences and executive director of the Arts and Sciences Foundation.
“We have been working with the neighborhood and they have been very supportive.”
The foundation won the bid in July to buy the property from the town for $1.25 million.
The next step in the process for the proposal now is to gain final approval at a council business meeting in April.
Currently working out of a two-story office at 134 E. Franklin St., the 20 development staff members who report to Parker have outgrown their space. Six other office employees are scattered in office buildings around campus.
“If we can complete this in the next couple of months, we hope we can move in sometime in summer 2016,” Parker said.