Council to eye developers

The last time the Chapel Hill Town Council committee on lots 2 and 5 saw the list of potential developers for the downtown revitalization project, six names were on it.

Today, they will receive a list at least one name shorter.

John Stainback, project consultant and managing partner of Stainback Public/Private Real Estate LLC of Houston, will send the town a short list of three to five potential developers for the proposed re-development of parking lots 2 and 5.

Lot 2 is located behind Spanky’s restaurant and next to the Wallace deck on Rosemary Street. Lot 5 can be found across from University Square on Franklin Street.

The lots are planned to be transformed into mixed-use facilities, with a transit transfer center located underneath the new facility at lot 2.

The RBC Centura bank on Rosemary Street also will be relocated to the new facility at lot 5 and will be replaced by a parking garage.

Wallace Deck will be expanded three levels as part of the project.

Total construction is estimated to cost about $82 million and to be completed in two distinct phases.

Stainback said he used nine criteria to pare down the list of potential developers from the six who replied by the town’s request for qualifications deadline Jan. 31.

The categories involved general information about the developers, experience and subjective material such as enthusiasm and level of detail in the requests.

“It’s a very scientific approach,” Stainback said.

LeylandAlliance LLC of Tuxedo, N.Y., is one of the development companies that returned an RFQ.

“(Franklin Street) does mean a lot, both as a place where the University and the town meet and as the identity of Chapel Hill,” said Macon Toledano, vice president of planning and development for LeylandAlliance. “It has tremendous potential to be what it was in the past.”

The company focuses on projects dealing with “mainstream” environments and mixed-use developments, Toledano said.

The company’s RFQ response was filed jointly with Grubb Properties Inc. of Charlotte, which owns and manages three apartment complexes in the Chapel Hill area, including Glen Lennox.

The Pizzuti Companies of Columbus, Ohio, also responded to the RFQ.

Pizzuti develops build-to-suit public/private municipalities throughout the Southeast and Midwest.

“The fact that Chapel Hill wants to do this means they’re thinking creatively and proactively,” said Executive Vice President Joel Pizzuti.

East West Partners Management Co. Inc. of Chapel Hill, in association with Stonebridge Associates of Bethesda, Md., was another RFQ respondent.

East West owns Meadowmont, a mixed-use facility off N.C. 54. Stonebridge is known for its work in planning for Carolina North, the University’s future satellite campus.

“Downtown Chapel Hill is an exciting place to do business,” East West President Roger Perry said. “It’s a mixed use of office and residential space.”

Federal Chapel Hill Associates LLC — working with Federal Development LLC of Washington, D.C. — also has local connections.

The company is working with Durham Public Schools to redesign the City of Medicine Academy at Southern High School.

It also manages a 998-space parking garage on the Durham VA Medical Center campus.

“We feel like we’re local,” said John Infantino, chief executive manager of Federal Chapel Hill. “We’re very familiar with Chapel Hill and the Triangle.”

Opus South Corp., a national in-house real estate firm with a regional office in Alpharetta, Ga., also expressed interest in the project.

“Our work is done with a single entity in mind from day one,” said Michael Dougherty, real estate manager for Opus South.

Opus South built the headquarters for UnitedHealth Group in Greensboro.

Ram Development Co., of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., also responded to the RFQ.

The company has developed two apartment complexes in Raleigh and is active in Florida, Texas and Michigan.

The town’s committee on parking lots 2 and 5 will discuss Stainback’s short list Wednesday before making a recommendation at the council's Feb. 28 meeting.

Requests for funding proposals will be sent out to sort out how exactly the projects will be financed.

Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.