Chapel Hill solar energy initiative launches
The future of alternative energy in Chapel Hill is getting brighter.
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The future of alternative energy in Chapel Hill is getting brighter.
Finding Tim Toben on his farm takes some time. First, you stop at a construction site, where a builder is putting the finishing touches on Toben’s newest project, a tea house. He’s not there.
One of Chapel Hill’s most controversial mixed-use developments is transforming itself into a success story.
Greenbridge Condominiums is back in business.
Greenbridge has sat mostly empty and mired in financial troubles since April, when Bank of America started the development’s foreclosure process.
The LIGHT Art and Design shop, located in the bottom of Greenbridge Developments, could face problems when the luxury condominiums are foreclosed upon in November.
Greenbridge faced foreclosure sale today for the second time in four months — but Bank of America has again postponed the date to give developers more time to repay debts.
Greenbridge faces a foreclosure sale Sept. 22 for the second time this year, just months after its bank delayed a June 27 sale date.
At LIGHT Art Design, Lucky Strike cigarettes and red Bibles embossed with gold crosses decorate the walls.
Controversy surrounding Greenbridge Developments continued Saturday evening when about 15 area residents stood in nonviolent protest against the condominiums.
After months of opposition and financial uncertainty, animosity towards Greenbridge Developments climaxed Saturday morning when a riot left three in handcuffs.
On Friday, the works of former UNC associate professor Kimowan Metchewais were put on display in the Greenbridge Developments building.
Greenbridge, the 10-story Rosemary Street development that opened last fall, faces the threat of foreclosure by its bank.
With fewer than half of its 97 residential apartments filled, Greenbridge Developments has struggled to find its niche in Chapel Hill real estate and the surrounding low-income neighborhood since it opened in October.
This story appeared as part of the 2010 Year In Review issue. The Daily Tar Heel resumes publication Jan. 10.
By today’s end, Greenbridge will be one step closer to achieving its environmentally friendly claim.Greenbridge, a two-building development property on West Rosemary Street, began the installation of 45 solar panels on the roof of its 10-story East Building.Mark Vevle, spokesman for Greenbridge Developments, said the solar panels will help power both the East and seven-story West buildings.When the Chapel Hill Town Council approved the commercial and residential complex in 2007, environmental friendliness was one of its main selling points.Construction is expected to be completed by the end of June.Greenbridge’s solar panels are made by Solar Tech South, a Chapel Hill company specializing in commercial and residential solar technology.Greenbridge is using what Solar Tech South calls commercial solar thermal technology. The heating system is primarily used for large facilities that use large amounts of hot water.The solar panels take heat from the sun and use transfer fluids to increase the temperature of the water in the water storage tanks.The solar panels are sized in such a way that the heat generated can heat the exact amount of water needed in Greenbridge.The four-by-eight-foot solar panels are connected to two 800-gallon heating tanks, said Ed Witkin, director of solar operations for Solar Tech South.He said the panels and their installation cost $155,000.When the solar panels stop generating energy because of lack of sunlight, the development will switch to using gas-powered heat.Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt said Greenbridge has prompted other major Chapel Hill development projects to adopt energy-saving techniques.The three other major planned Chapel Hill developments — 140 West, East 54 and University Square — plan to consume 20 percent less energy than national standard, Kleinschmidt said.“Greenbridge has really influenced other projects in the Chapel Hill area moving towards energy efficiency,” Kleinschmidt said.“The town wants all kinds of sustainability.”Witkin said Solar Tech South has recently seen more local commercial and residential businesses buying solar panels, whether or not it’s inspired by Greenbridge’s purchase.Vevle said Greenbridge’s other building, the West Building, will be outfitted with a “green roof” in the coming months.The gardening area will provide natural insulation and prevent excess water runoff.Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
Streets are clear after a bomb threat targeted Greenbridge Development around 7 a.m. Thursday.
A metal fence is all that divides a small funeral home on North Graham Street from the Greenbridge construction site.It was also the first official notification Knotts Funeral Home received of Greenbridge’s construction, said Michael Parker, the funeral home branch’s manager.“They didn’t let us know anything until they started coming in and putting up a fence,” he said.Since construction of the 135-foot tall sustainable development began in 2008, funeral home employees say they have dealt with falling debris and a dip in business.Employees are waiting to hear whether the Chapel Hill Town Council can offer them any help for their concerns as they learn to live beside the town’s tallest structure.A perilous positionKnotts Funeral Homes, a family-owned chain with four locations in the area, began business in Chapel Hill 13 years ago.The modest funeral home has ties to the historically black neighborhood that surrounds it, Parker said.Built in about 1940, it originally housed the Chapel Hill Funeral Home, said Parker.Although the old building has stood the test of time, it hasn’t fared as well with the new construction.The building and three vehicles parked outside were damaged by falling construction materials, Parker said.“It has caused this building to leak, the building to separate, the floors to get dusted up from the dust,” he said. “It’s just really torn the building down.”Judie Rice, one of the home’s two funeral directors, said she worries about structural stability.“The building has shifted, and you can easily see that,” she said.Greenbridge spokesman Mark Vevle said the funeral home received compensation for a damaged vehicle but did not confirm or deny any of the other claims.A decline in businessLula Knotts-Thomas, the owner of Knotts Funeral Homes, said fewer clients have used the Graham home since construction began.Potential clients have been discouraged by personal safety and lack of parking concerns, Parker said.Construction noise also disturbed clients, Rice said.“The noise level was excruciating for several weeks,” she said.Knotts-Thomas inquired about selling the property to Greenbridge developers but did not feel they offered her a fair amount.“They did not give any consideration to the fact that we are an operating business and by selling we would have to reestablish ourselves somewhere else,” she said.Frank Phoenix, one of the partners of Greenbridge, said the agreement they came to with the funeral home is complicated. He said when the funeral home voices concerns, they are addressed right away.Rice said she was puzzled by developers’ choice to build next to the funeral home.“I don’t know who would want to buy a condo next to a funeral home with people bringing dead bodies in and out,” she said.Waiting for town’s responseAfter a meeting the funeral home held Jan. 25, owners submitted a resolution to the Town Council.The resolution states that because of a lack of parking some days, the business has had to reschedule a funeral service, limit employee parking and ask families attending a service to pay for parking meters.“There’s nothing we can do about the Greenbridge buildings,” Rice said. “They are up. Now we have to find a way to work together.”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
An already controversial plot of land has taken another shot this weekend — this time from vandals.
A glance west down Rosemary Street confirms the progress of a controversial 10-story development among low-slung businesses and homes.Future occupants have purchased more than half of the units set to be built in the skeleton framework of the Greenbridge development.As it takes shape, its neighbors must come to terms with a changing landscape and community dynamic.Despite a regional slump in real estate sales, the environmentally conscious mixed-use development is on track to finish construction and sell all of its units by its projected opening in June 2010, developers said.“Our sales rate is the fastest yet,” said Tim Toben, a Greenbridge Developments partner.Fifty-eight of the development’s 98 residential units had been sold as of Friday, as well as 60 percent of the available commercial space.About half of the future owners are out-of-towners, Toben said. He said he expects the final units will go to alumni who come into town for sports events.Toben attributes the sales volume in part to the growing physical presence of the structure. The 10- and seven-story towers topped out in August, and the exterior brickwork and green roof, which uses plants to regulate temperature, are now under construction.Greenbridge’s development has seen much resistance from the surrounding Northside community and UNC activists decrying the spread of gentrification.Northside, traditionally a black neighborhood, recently has seen rising taxes and a changing population as families move out and student renters move in, residents have said.Though Greenbridge development representatives said they tried to engage the community throughout the planning process, opponents have accused developers of manipulating public sentiment in their favor.Now, as the two towers of Greenbridge climb above the neighborhood, some residents described difficulties as a part of the development’s continued growth.“Of course there are growing pains,” said Dianne Pledger, a member of the Steward Board of St. Paul’s AME Church. The church lies across Merritt Mill Road from the development.Through an agreement with Greenbridge, parishioners will have parking spaces in the development’s underground garage, she said.But not all of Northside’s residents are interested in working together with Toben and his staff.A strongly worded open letter authored by a group of “concerned residents of Northside” appeared in Sunday’s Chapel Hill News, calling on prospective Greenbridge buyers to reconsider.“Any residents who move in that building will be unwelcome,” said Elizabeth Albiston, spokeswoman for the group, adding that the group hopes to send a message to future developers.Toben and his staff insisted that they have the support of Northside.“These statements don’t represent the sentiments of the Northside neighbors we know,” Toben said.One of those neighbors is Mildred “Mama Dip” Council, owner of the country cooking restaurant Mama Dip’s, which lies on the edge of the Northside neighborhood.Council said she is pleased to see the town growing, but the increasing property values of the neighborhood have made it harder for her to see a future for the restaurant. Greenbridge is part of those rising taxes, she said.“My taxes ain’t gonna come back down, no matter how raggedy the building gets,” Council said. “I got to wonder, ‘What’s gonna happen to Mama Dip’s?’”Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.