University Place mall’s entertainment district is officially live — meaning customers can purchase alcoholic to-go drinks from participating restaurants and take them outside.
More than a dozen tenant businesses of the Chapel Hill mall gathered at its The Commons outdoor space Wednesday afternoon for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration of the new option, meant to drive foot traffic. In addition to bartaco margaritas, most other University Place businesses set up booths for free samples of food, drinks, merchandise and more before leaders joined together for the ribbon cutting and photos, which was supported by the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro.
“This is what our community is, and this is the first of many, many, many events we’re going to have together,” University Place Property Manager Marni Sawicki said after thanking the tenants on Wednesday.
An entertainment district is a designation for private property granted through permits by the state ABC Commission. Like a social district — which is designated through local government zoning laws — it allows restaurants with a liquor license to serve customers alcoholic drinks to-go and patrons can carry them into designated outdoor spaces. In University Place’s case, the participating restaurants are bartaco (and its mobile margarita stand), Hawkers Asian Street Fare, Stoney River Steakhouse & Grill and Silverspot. Customers can take their drinks around the mall’s public gathering spaces on its south and east end.
Sawicki, who works for JLL Property Management and previously was a mayor of Cape Coral, Fla., managed several malls in the Michigan and Wisconsin area before arriving to Chapel Hill. She credited University Place’s ownership, Ram Realty, for “not just repurposing, but actually building towards and redeveloping the future” of the Chapel Hill mall. With the broader goal of making it a place for residents and visitors to once again build community, she said the entertainment district is another exciting piece of the vision.
“I want to emphasize: this is not about drinking,” Sawicki told Chapelboro. “Alcohol is just a part of it. It’s a nice way to integrate our tenants into the space. But really, we want this – with our games and everything we’re doing – to be a community spot. We want this to be where people to go, ‘Where are you going tonight? Well, see you there.’ And everybody knows this is ‘there.’
“We just want people to feel like it’s theirs and feel like they have a stake in it,” she added. “And that it’s up to them to make it feel special too.”
University Place Property Manager Marni Sawicki addresses the crowd at Wednesday’s event before the ribbon cutting for the entertainment district. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
University Place has some signage around the property detailing its entertainment district’s boundary. Patrons can also scan the QR code to get a map. (Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
During her time as a mayor, Sawicki helped start a social district for her town. She said based on that experience, she expects the UP Social entertainment district will help those restaurants sell a few more drinks. But the expectation is to draw in more people with the outdoor amenities within the district, which will then drive up foot traffic more broadly to the tenants. And with University Place putting its next stage of redevelopment — in the eastern-most parcels between the mall building and Fordham Boulevard — temporarily on hold, it opens up several possibilities.
That started, Sawicki said, by taking down the temporary construction fencing to open up sight-lines from the road into the open area.
“We will have picnic tables, horseshoes, bocci ball, [and] cornhole that will be going in that space,” she said. “Lots of shade with umbrellas and sails for [The Commons]. We realize it’s hot and rainy a lot. But even at night, it just takes my breath away to see the string [market] lights. I’m just excited to get this piece going too. And now that we’ve made that piece part of the entertainment district, I think it’s going to be great.”
University Place’s entertainment district’s hours — which are separate from the individual restaurant serving alcoholic drinks — last from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. More rules and regulations can be found on the mall’s website.
Photo by Brighton McConnell/Chapel Hill Media Group.
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