New building could replace one of Chapel Hill’s last affordable apartment complexes
An affordable apartment complex built in the 1960s could be razed for a new five-story apartment building in eastern Chapel Hill near the Ram’s Plaza and Eastgate Crossing shopping centers.
The existing Kings Arms Apartments, at 1320 Ephesus Church Road, lies just outside the town’s Blue Hill District, where projects that meet design guidelines need only town manager and Community Design Commission approval.
That means the Town Council would have to approve any redevelopment of the Kings Arms property.
Kings Arms has 65 apartments in four, two-story buildings. The developer wants to replace those apartments with The Reserve at Blue Hill, a concept plan for 212 apartments in a single, five-story building. Parking could be under the new building and in surface lots.
The 7.6-acre project site is on a bus line and within walking distance of several shopping centers, two schools and a future park. It is about two miles from the Durham County line.
The Reserve could lease 15% of the apartments — over 30 units — at a rate affordable for those earning 65% to 80% of the area median income, the plan notes. That’s between $43,485 and $53,520 a year for a single person, or up to $76,400 for a family of four.
A concept plan is a rough outline of how a property might be developed. The council and the town’s Community Design Commission review concept plans and provide feedback that developers can use to finalize their application.
The Community Design Commission could review the project June 1 in a virtual meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m.
The council could review the concept plan June 21. The council meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall council chamber.
The developer is asking the council to approve a conditional rezoning that would allow a taller building and twice the current density. According to the application, more than 30% of the tree cover would be preserved, including along Ephesus Church Road.
Relocation help, higher rent
Greensboro-based Phillips Management Group paid $1.67 million to buy the Kings Arms apartment complex in 2012 through a separate holding company, G Partnership LLC, county records showed. Phillips Management transferred the property to a new holding company, Kings Arms LLC, in 2015, records showed.
Phillips Management has offered to help its tenants at Kings Arms look for new housing and pay moving expenses.
“It is the intent of Phillips Management to make the change in location for these long-time residents as easy as possible and with the minimum amount of disruption,” documents state.
The project site has a driveway off the Ephesus Church Road roundabout and is across the street from The Hartley apartment complex, which replaced the formerly affordable Park Apartments.
A two-bedroom apartment at Kings Arms rents for $1,125 a month, compared to between $1,800 to $2,300 at The Hartley, according to online leasing information.
Jeremy Rydberg, founder of real estate investment consulting firm Evergreen Asset Management, responded to The News & Observer’s questions about the project, relocation assistance and whether Phillips Management might sell the property to an investor.
Phillips Management Group President Maria Barker was copied in the email, but neither she nor another Phillips Management Group official reached for comment responded.
“Right now, we are exploring what is possible from both a renovation of the existing buildings and redevelopment standpoint,” said Rydberg, who is also an executive with Texas-based real estate investor Green Point Property Co.
“The concept submittal is part of that fact gathering process,” he said. “We have not yet determined if or when we will move forward with any renovation/redevelopment at this point.”
