Carolina North plans shift

A development agreement between Chapel Hill and UNC for Carolina North was approved in late June, setting in motion the next 20 years of work at the University’s new satellite research campus.

But actual construction on the site won’t begin until economic conditions — in the state and at the University — improve.

The first buildings planned for Carolina North, the Innovation Center and a law school, have been stalled by the economic recession.

“The passing of the development agreement was a major milestone,” University Board of Trustees Chairman Bob Winston said.

“Now we’ve got to cross some t’s and dot some i’s.”

And until the University can find proper funding from the state and alumni donors for its initiatives at Carolina North, progress will be incremental.

“The development agreement is just a beginning point to address the concerns of the impact of Carolina North,” said J.B. Culpepper, planning director for Chapel Hill.

For the University, approval of the development agreement was the main thrust of its work on Carolina North until last June.

“We were very much focused on concluding the official proceedings,” said Jack Evans, executive director of Carolina North. “We’ve now made a shift into the actual implementation of the development agreement.”

What follows is a lot of logistics and behind-the-scenes work, including collaboration between the University and the town in studies on the transportation impact and potential carbon footprint.

“We’ve used these summer months since the approval to start thinking about the reviews and follow-up plans for the site,” Culpepper said.

Evans said more than 40 points of planning, review and approval must be done in coming months.

But actual construction on the site hinges on wider issues of economic recovery, Evans said.

“We would like to be hopeful, but we also have to be realistic,” he said.

Development on the Innovation Center, a proposed incubation center for startup businesses, has been shelved by its developer, Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., until it feels the economic conditions are right for completion of the project.

Plans for the center were already approved by the Chapel Hill Town Council and the Board of Trustees in an earlier vote.

Funds for the law school will be provided primarily through appropriations by the N.C. General Assembly, said Katie Bowler, assistant dean for communications for the School of Law. But the funds have not yet been released for use.

The Raleigh offices of design firm Smith Group, who have provided the law school with plans for the new building, will release a new report in four to six weeks reflecting changes in the school’s location on the site and an increase in the projected student population to 850.

For the site itself, noticeable physical change will be slow-going until funds can jump-start construction.

“Unless we find a sizable piece of money to get started on physical work, we won’t act,” Evans said. “You’re not going to see a bulldozer on Carolina North anytime soon.”

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.