The renovation of the exterior of 137 E. Franklin St. began during the summer with the purpose of refreshing the building's look.
Specifically, the building is undergoing an expansion of the plaza entrance into an enclosed glass structure and a modern treatment of metal and glass along the East Franklin exterior.
“This is a project specifically brought to the town by an individual property owner than wants to update the look of their building,” said Mike Klein, zoning enforcement officer for the town of Chapel Hill.
The owner of the building emailed with the town planning board before undergoing the process of applying for a permit, Klein said.
“It’s just a matter of submitting all of the materials, submitting a completed application and moving through the review process,” Klein said. “In this case, a big element of the plan was construction management — assure safety of pedestrians during the duration of the activity.”
Klein said the construction is projected to be finished by the end of the year.
“I actually thought they would be done by now,” Klein said. “It’s fairly open ended as long as they keep up with their inspections.”
The Zoning Compliance Permit generally expires after two years and Klein said the planning department will ask for an update on when the project will finish if the construction goes into 2017.
Trolly Stop will move next to Ben & Jerry’s
Trolly Stop will be moving from their West Franklin location next to Jimmy John’s to the empty storefront next to Ben & Jerry’s.
“We’re going to be expanding our menu," said Eric Martin, general manager of Trolly Stop. "The building we’re currently in doesn’t have the hood system, so we would be able to have the fryer and the grill top."
Martin said that the new storefront is larger and in a better location for foot traffic. The larger store will allow Trolly Stop to add new features to the restaurant.
“We are going to be adding some pool tables and dartboards just to make it a little more friendly for the students — give them some place to kind of hang out and meet up before they go out or head to the games," Martin said.
Trolly Stop wants to open up employment opportunities for students.
“We’re looking to hire more staff and we’re looking mainly for employee students,” Klein said.
Contractors are currently finishing up renovations, and the new location is set to open around the second week of December.
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Cuban Revolution Restaurant and Bar, which has been in Durham since 2009, is planning to add a location on the corner of Kenan and Franklin streets, adjacent to the Franklin Hotel.
“It’s a great location for business obviously with the University there and we’ve been looking for a place to expand to,” said Ed Morabito, owner of the restaurant.
While the Durham location is a full service restaurant with 80 seats, Chapel Hill’s Cuban Revolution Express will have about 25 seats.
“The concept is going to be a limited menu,” said Morabito. “It’s more of a counter service operation.”
Cuban Revolution had two locations in Rhode Island before accepting an offer to add a location at the American Tobacco Campus in Durham in 2009.
“We were successful in Durham and we’ve been toying with this counter service concept for a while and thought it would be a great opportunity to try Chapel Hill,” Morabito said.
Cuban Revolution Express is set to open around the week of Nov. 21. They are looking to hire students for counter help and delivery driving.
