Agenda - 06-01-1992 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Chapel Hill Herald March 16, 1991 De says veld er downtown projects attracting tenants By JULIA WHITE The Chapel Min Herald CHAPEL HILL. -- Two com- mercial and residential projects under way for the western part of downtown Chapel Hill have received much interest despite a down- turn in the economy, a devel- oper said this week. use development for the town and has landed tenants for its offices and condominiums. Boak said. The building will feature a 75 -space underground parking deck beneath two stories of of- fices and two stories of condo- miniums. The third -floor condomini- "We have had unbelievable interest," developer Jeff Boak said of the projects. Several tenants have been hooked for the commercial floors of a West Rosemary Street project call The Foun- tains, Boak said, including an architect, psychotherapist and computer consulting firm. In addition, the recently emptied Fowler's Food Store site is attracting attention from several retail stores. Boak told members of the .Orange County Economic Development Commission Thursday night. The Fountains, a mixed resi- dential and commercial build- ing, is a new concept in mixed- urns will have about 1,100 mini -mall, Boak said. square feet while the pent- Parking in front of Fowler's houses will measure 1,600 will be eliminated, and some square feet with wide terraces, parking will be added in the Boak said. front and back of the building, Across the street on West he said. Franklin, the Fowler's building About 35 people have in- will undergo some renovation' quired about the buildirl before it is divided into small retail shops patterned after a .� ing for anywhere from 500 to 4.000 square feet for their re- tail shops and offices. Boak said. Client inquiries included a Fortune 500 company and a six-store chain, Boak said. "People are interested in the market, like the mix of the market," Boak said. "An active downtown commission has helped." The 'western location also seems to bolster the building's marketability. Boak said. "We tend to be a little more reasonably priced than East Franklin," he said. The Fountains and Fowler's projects started more than four years ago when the now - defunct Rosemary Square and West Court projects were in full swing. Rosemary Square was voted down and West Court founder Guilford T. Waddell III was convicted of embezzlement. leaving Boak and developer Todd Zapolski alone in down- town commercial and residen- tial developments. "We saw ourselves as the third step, drafting along be- hind the others, but we are now the leading ship," he said. The owner of Fowler's de- cided to break from the devel- oper's plans to scale down his store last year, then ended up closing after the store contin- ued to lose money. Boak said. Fowler's closed in January and officials auctioned its stock early last month.