Growth has proved a hot topic in the discussions in the local blogsphere recently. Participants have divided into two camps. One side believes that all growth is good and that new development of any kind will make money for the town and thus lower residential property taxes. The other side believes only nonresidential property is […]
All posts in category Housing
Talk, hear, act
Posted by Nancy Oates on March 2, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/03/02/talk-hear-act/
Listen up!
What a blessing to all of us that I stayed home to watch the town’s affordable housing seminar on my computer instead of sitting in the audience at Town Hall. Had I been there in person, I might not have been able to contain myself after Robert Hickey from the Center for Housing Policy in […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on February 16, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/02/16/listen-up/
CHALT makes connections
After my children left home, my husband and I thought of downsizing to Hillsborough, where taxes are a little bit lower. But the historic homes were too big, the small homes in a gentrifying section of town needed too much work, and the new homes in the subdivisions north of town left us uninspired. Knowing […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 26, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/26/chalt-makes-connections/
The price of doing right
Art Pope tried to buy his way into the university and failed. So Pope, the Dick Cheney of the McCrory administration, took another tack: He pressed the N.C. General Assembly, which has appointed several Republican cronies to the UNC System Board of Governors, to push out the system president, a man revered for his integrity, […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 19, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/19/the-price-of-doing-right/
Roj Mahal
On Thursday, town manager Roger Stancil stamped his approval to Village Plaza Apartments, thus setting in motion what one wag refers to as “Roj Mahal.” Historically, Town Council has had the authority to approve or deny development. But with form-based code rezoning in the Ephesus-Fordham area, Stancil has the final say of what goes up. […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on January 12, 2015
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2015/01/12/roj-mahal/
Urban renewal
Don heard that a store in Burlington sold Cheerwine with real sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup, and always one to encourage a healthy lifestyle, I went with him to search. I’d never been to Burlington beyond the outlet stores that used to flourish off the interstate until Tanger Mall lured them away. As we drove […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on December 15, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/12/15/urban-renewal/
Which workforce?
In an email to Town Council last month, Lee Perry, a principal of East West Partners, referred to Village Plaza Apartments as “workforce housing.” Perry, whose company is building the 266-unit apartment building in the vacant lot that used to be the site of a movie theater, explained that his rents, starting at $1,150 a […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on November 17, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/11/17/which-workforce/
Downside of up-zoning
I give credit to Arctic explorer Robert Peary for words that have been guiding principles in my life: “Find a way, or make one,” and, more frequently, “Do it now.” So I share the impatience of many residents of Rogers Road who want water and sewer service extended to that area, like we promised we’d […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 29, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/09/29/downside-of-up-zoning/
Courtyards dissed
What do some members of Town Council have against the 20 percent of Chapel Hill residents who are at least 55 years old? Last Monday night, the developers of Courtyards at Homestead presented their proposal for an age-restricted community of 63 moderately priced one-level cottages clustered on 18 acres that back up to Carolina North […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 22, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/09/22/courtyards-dissed/
Who wins?
You can’t make this stuff up. The Urban Land Institute of the Triangle lists Timber Hollow Apartments as a nominee to win an award for affordable housing. Ron Strom of Blue Heron Asset Management self-nominated his project, which Blue Heron sold to Eller Capital (after pocketing nearly $6 million profit from his $12.6 million investment […]
Posted by Nancy Oates on September 8, 2014
http://chapelhillwatch.com/2014/09/08/who-wins/