The Elon Town Council held a meeting March 11 to discuss plans to construct a new mixed-use development at the southwest intersection of University Drive and North Williamson Avenue.
Tony Tate, founder and principal at TMTLA Associates—a landscape architecture, land planning, and urban design firm—presented the plans to the council, highlighting the many different uses of the development and the goals of walkability and accessibility.
The development, called “Parc Village,” aims to include office, retail, hospitality, grocery and residential spaces and is projected to be completed in 2040, according to Jeremy Medlin, associate vice president of real estate at the Greenhawk Corporation
One concern brought up by council member Stephanie Bourland was rent affordability and the cost of each apartment unit.
“People keep talking about affordable housing, they can’t find an apartment, that’s less than, honestly, that’s less than what my mortgage is right now,” Bourland said.
Medlin responded and said he is unsure of where prices will land, citing the rising costs of living and considering the projected completion date is not until 2040.
“We’re in the trenches everyday with the affordability problems, and the tariffs, and escalation, and I can’t even tell you where the rents are going to land,” Medlin said.
The Greenhawk Corporation, the developer of Parc Village, also has plans to build two other residential communities in Elon: “Parc Northwest” and “Parc Northeast.”
If the town council votes to approve the development, Parc Village will be located behind the Schar Center, in close proximity to Elon University property. Though the development is so close to campus, developers will not be able to build pedestrian access between the two sites unless the university agrees to the idea, according to Lori Oakley, town planning director.
Medlin said students are not the target audience for the residential spaces, although there may be some students who will live at the apartments once they are built.
Medlin said the ideal audience for the development would be active adults or young professionals.
During time alloted for comments from the public on the issue, Burlington resident Jim Sykes brought up concerns about what a large amount of new developments could mean for the community and referenced past communities that have been closed down because of environmental impacts from chemical plants built nearby.
“The challenge is, can we staff somebody to look at, you know, what the quality of the thing is and how it’s going into the streams, and that sort of thing,” Sykes said. “How are you going to handle these future impacts from growth?”
Members of the development team did not respond to Sykes’ comment.
Council member Randy Orwig also brought up environmental concerns, specifically about water runoff and flooding.
Orwig asked how the new development would impact the flow of water to other communities in the area, and what the developers plans are to alleviate these likely issues.
“I’m just trying to figure out if my neighbors are going to be swimming in their bedrooms,” Orwig said. “I really perceive problems, so I’m very concerned.”
Lee Bryant, vice president of Evan’s Engineering, responded by describing the developers plans to build an underground storm drainage system that will hold water and slowly release it in order to prevent flooding in other neighborhoods.
“It can keep that first flush of water that comes in and hold it in there,” Bryant said. “Then they’re slowly releasing it at a rate, so theoretically, that should help anything downstream from us.”
The town council will decide whether to approve or deny the conditional rezoning request for Parc Village during its next meeting March 24.