Blogs

At a special meeting on Monday, the Chapel Hill Town Council decided to formally move into the negotiaton phase in the development agreement process for Obey Creek, a proposed mixed-use development across from Southern Village on 15-501.

Developer East West Partners presented a revised proposal to Council Monday. While the overall size and mix of the project has not changed, the layout and some design elements have changed. The proposal, as it currently stands, will develop 35 acres and preserve 85 in perpetuity. All buildings will be LEED certified.

The mix of uses is proposed to include 400,000 square feet of retail space, 250,000 square feet of officespace, and 600-700 residential units, including a senior housing component. All parking on the site would be structured except for street parking along streets within the development.

East West Partners also provided a model of the current proposal to help councilmembers and members of the public better understand the scale of development (see photo).

Recently, the Orange County Health Department launched plans for the Family Success Alliance, modeled after the success of the Harlem Children’s Zone. 

With its inception as the Rheedlen Centers for Children and Families in 1970, the Harlem Children’s Zone aims to disrupt generational poverty with a holistic, long-term approach providing education and support from early childhood through college, supportive services to families to prevent homelessness, and health services including obesity prevention.  Serving over 13,000 children and 13,000 adults in 97 blocks of Central Harlem, the engaged children (70% in the served blocks) have a 92% college acceptance rate, 100% of pre-K participants are assessed as school ready, and the 800 local employees fuel economic growth.  The Harlem Children’s Zone also serves as the Model for President Obama’s Promise Neighborhood Initiative that has awarded 58 grants to communities across the country to implement similar programs.