Chapel Hill program allows business owners to look before they buy

A new program in Chapel Hill is aimed at letting prospective businesses know exactly what they’re getting into before they commit to a space.

Look Before You Lease! — which is being offered by the Chapel Hill Fire Department and Inspections Division — gives potential Chapel Hill business owners the chance to learn about structural issues with their space before they sign a lease.

As part of the process, town officials walk through the building with the business owner and do an “eyes-only” inspection.

Joseph Ayscue, former chief building inspector for the Chapel Hill Public Works Department, said the town has offered the service informally for several years. He said town officials recently decided to formalize the program.

Meg McGurk, executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, said the partnership began discussing how to better publicize the program with the town in November or December.

“They said, ‘This is a service. Let’s market it as a resource,’” McGurk said.

Town spokeswoman Catherine Lazorko said the town occasionally receives complaints from business owners about their leased spaces, and the program will help address these concerns.

“Some facilities are suited for a particular type of business,” she said. “An early overview can give a potential businessperson the feedback they need in their process.”

Oscar Morales, manager of the recently-closed Pepper’s Pizza restaurant on Franklin Street, said the Pepper’s building has had some leaking problems, but nothing serious.

“It wasn’t bad enough to fail inspection,” he said. “It was because the ducts of the air conditioning.”

Bruce Knott, chief operating officer for the developers of The Courtyard development on West Franklin Street, said his company didn’t have any problems with its property.

“As developers, the first thing we do is make sure everything is up to code,” he said. “I can imagine for some smaller spaces, somebody may sign a lease without doing much improvement to it. But usually the lease provides that degree of protection.”

While some potential Franklin Street businesses might have concerns about their buildings, McGurk said Look Before You Lease! wasn’t created in response to a particular problem.

“This is just a way for us to make it better for businesses,” she said. “The idea is that it saves everybody money and time in the long run.”

Lazorko said helping businesses is one of the main interests of the town.

“I think we are showing that we are business-friendly in downtown.”

Contact the desk editor at city@dailytarheel.com.