Phase 1 of Carolina North campus will allow for living, learning

The UNC Chapel Hill Board of Trustees is moving forward with plans to build a 250-acre second campus called Carolina North. A vote Wednesday selected the designer of the project that will include student, multi-family and workforce housing.

UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts says affordable housing is a crucial issue for Chapel Hill, and the university wants to be part of the solution.

"We're committed to continued ongoing partnership and dialogue with the town on Carolina North," he said.

The first phase of the development will also include academic research buildings, a hotel, and retail spaces.

Not on the list for this first phase: A new basketball arena to replace the Dean E. Smith Center.

“Carolina North is going forward," UNC Associate Athletic Director Steve Newmark said Wednesday. "There’s some incredible plans out there ... but, for right now, the arena discussion really has been put on hold while we’re trying to address some of the other issues.”

Roberts said discussions about the future home for the basketball program will continue. 

The campus, which will be 700 acres off Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard in Chapel Hill, is less than two miles north of the flagship campus at the site of the former Horace Williams Airport, which closed to the public in 2018. 

The Board of Trustees has approved $8 million for the design and planning, a process that could take 12 to 14 months.

The academic buildings at Carolina North would focus on research, including biology (the university’s second-most popular major and fastest growing) and other science, technology, engineering and math courses, which now make up one half of all degrees at UNC. While English classes can be taught in classrooms that have been around for hundreds of years, Roberts said, other courses require newer technologies.

Construction on Phase 1 is expected to start next year. As for next steps, "We have this broader stakeholder advisory committee that we announced yesterday that is looking at all aspects of Carolina North," Roberts said.