As University Place in Chapel Hill continues to take shape in its redevelopment, the mall is preparing to add a way for patrons to enjoy alcoholic drinks and support its businesses.
The mall is preparing to launch an “entertainment district,” with permits to allow customers to order to-go drinks and walk around the southern side of its property, with plans to have it become active on September 1. The goal is to boost foot traffic to several University Place businesses, spaces and events while offering a more connected experience to visitors.
Plans for the entertainment district have been in the works for years, as University Place owners Ram Realty have worked to redesign the Chapel Hill mall to be more outward-facing and pedestrian friendly. Marni Sawicki, the site’s general manager with JLL Property Management, said she was thrilled when the idea was brought up. A former mayor of Cape Coral, Fla., Sawicki helped usher in a social district to that town years ago – which she said initially drew criticism before the results and atmosphere changed the tune of the community.
“When you do these type of [districts], they will come – if you do it right, people will come and it will be a very special place,” Sawicki told 97.9 The Hill. “You want to make a sense a place where [when] you say, ‘I’ll see you there,’ they know exactly where ‘there’ is. That’s what we want to be.”
The crucial differences between entertainment districts and social districts are two-fold. Entertainment districts operate through permits issued directly by the North Carolina ABC Commission instead of an ordinance created by a local government, like the town. While social districts can spread from property to property by public right-of-ways, entertainment districts are localized to a private property — in this case, the string of businesses, sidewalks and gathering spaces at University Place.
“Everything has to be on our property, it has to be with our tenants,” Sawicki said. “We can’t have outside vendors come with alcohol and try to sell it. That makes a big difference – if we were ever do that, we would have to go back through the municipality and do an event permit. Because it’s our own tenants and they all have their own liquor licenses, [approval] just camps right at the state level.”
Sawicki said she believes working through the state government to help the mall become an entertainment district provided a faster result than having the Town of Chapel Hill construct and approve its own ordinance for social districts. But that does not mean University Place is not in regular contact with the local government, she said. Public safety and enforcement will be crucial to the new status being a “good, positive thing for the town,” Sawicki said, which means increased coordination and communication.
Chapel Hill Economic Development Director David Putnam agrees, saying he knows the town’s relevant departments have been engaged with University Place’s leadership to make sure there is “safe and responsible activity and behaviors.” He also added that the existence of an entertainment district already in town — at the Cedar Falls Courtyard shopping center off Weaver Dairy Road — provides a good blueprint of how it can be implemented and what it can offer. As the town government aims to encourage more business in walkable areas near residences as part of its Complete Communities strategy, it also fits with Putnam’s department’s goal of helping each hub of commercial spaces be successful.
“This sort of opportunity really fits within that greater vision of ‘how is the business district of U Place being supported, augmented, amplified,’” he said. “[They are] trying to lift it up and be more [of a] magnet for visitors and residents to shop and experience something in a whole new way in Chapel Hill. I think it kind of fits within that broader vision of economic development for the town [in] helping us further our business district work.”
Sawicki said the addition of an entertainment district will be complimented with University Place’s vision of programming around its property and additions of tenants. With the boundaries set to stretch from as far west as Stoney River to as far east as its parcels bordering Fordham Boulevard, she said the plan is to help “connect both sides” of the property.
“I love the green spaces that we’re making,” Sawicki added. “We’ve got the pocket park that’s in front of bartaco…so, you can start down at Stoney River, stop in at the bar in Silverspot, go to bartaco, and we’ll have music in the pocket park. [You could] go past Hawkers, then you’ll have Postino’s down at the end, which will have its own outdoor, beautiful patio that you can sit on. You’ve got Jeni’s across, and then you just go into the green space there [called The Commons.]”
And after the short-term implementation of the entertainment district, the plan is to spread it to the east side of the University Place property not yet under construction. Sawicki said Ram Realty’s Phase 3 of redevelopment is being delayed — so, in the meantime, the land will be turned into a park.
“We’re going to have picnic tables and all kinds of games. We’re looking at possibly having a cornhole league…things like that. And then we’ve been doing our own live music in the park and movies in the park, and we’re going to continue that. We’re going to try and get some really cool fall festival things going on [as well].”
After the entertainment district’s “soft opening” at the start of September, University Place will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro and its stakeholders to celebrate the rollout of the new amenity.
Upcoming Openings and New Tenants
The news comes as University Place recently confirmed new tenants and shared target windows for the grand openings of others. The mall is set to add the home decor and furniture store HomeSense, which will take up 28,000 square feet on the north side of its main building as a neighbor to the incoming Barnes & Noble bookstore. HomeSense is targeting a spring 2027 opening and its space is under construction — while Barnes & Noble is planning to open in September of this year.
University Place also recently confirmed the restaurant and wine bar Postino’s plans to open this fall, as well as a Bliss Nail Spa in a neighboring space. It will mark the second Chapel Hill location for the nail art and self-care business, which also operates out of space in the Elliott Square shopping center. Additionally, the News & Observer reported that the Texas burger chain Whataburger filed a development application with the Town of Chapel Hill as it looks to bring a location and drive-thru to the mall property. A JLL spokesperson declined to comment on the status of tenant discussions around Whataburger.
Putnam said he believes the ongoing redevelopment of University Place is “going over really positively” when it comes to economic development and creating a dynamic atmosphere at the mall. He added that while the announced tenant deals for the main mall property are intriguing, the smaller business spaces at the 900 Willow building continue to be a great asset.
“One thing that I think excites us the most is that they’re really offering some studio retail space for new and upcoming businesses and entrepreneurs in the town of Chapel Hill,” he said. “We’ve seen those spaces get more interest and be more attainable for entrepreneurs locally that want to test their concepts in town, but can’t afford something in downtown [or] Franklin Street. They can do it at U Place in some of those studio retail spaces.
“It’s nice we can further that blend of chain and local aspects,” Putnam concluded. “And hopefully some of those local entrepreneurs and businesses graduate from those space sand can move into other spaces that are either downtown or in our Timberlyne neighborhood or Meadowmont business district areas. That would be a really charming story that we would be excited to hear.”
One previously announced business at the Chapel Hill mall will not be joining. The Salty, a Florida-based donut and coffee shop, was initially unveiled as a tenant option for the space on the other end of The Commons from Jeni’s Ice Cream — but JLL confirmed that partnership has since fallen through and it is looking to bring a different business into the unit.
Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.
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