Here's a look at today's local headlines:

GROWTH TALKS: The Glen Lennox redevelopment is being touted as an example of cooperation between the derveloper and area residents. Find out why the Town Council will set up a development agreement with Grubb Properties but wants more discussion before doing the same for Obey Creek. Tammy Grubb has the story.

UFO IN CARRBORO: Blog readers read it here first. Still waiting to hear your idea thoughts on what Roy Mars saw last weekend in the sky over Carrboro. Read my story here.

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: When the Chapel Hill High drama department got back its new script from a New York playwright they realized they couldn't stage it and they were out $4,000. Read what they came up with instead in Dave Hart's story. 

Also today, for non N&O subscribers, we recap two other big stories of the week: a girl bringing a loaded .45 to a local elementary school and a Carrboro woman who had a baby in a campus bus shelter. 

All that plus your letters, local sports and the sad news this week of ACC writer and former CHN sports editor Eddy Landreth's passing at age 54.

Thanks for reading,

Mark 

* Actually it's a top 11 list

Grubb Properties outlined these guiding principles for the redevelopment of the Glen Lennox apartment and commercial complex last night at a meeting of the committee drafting Neighborhood Conservation District guidelines:

• 1.     Value history of neighborhood 
• 2.     Preservation of street network
• 3.     Create and maintain open space
• 4.     Preservation of trees
• 5.     Maintain a portion of the buildings
• 6.     Transition and vary density and heights
• 7.     Utilize buffers
• 8.     Preserve church’s visibility and accessibility
• 9.     Effective transportation strategy
• 10.   Sustainability
• 11.   Community diversity

Federal Capital Partners and Grubb Properties announced today a $42 million joint venture investment in two apartment communities in Raleigh and Chapel Hill.

The venture includes the Riverwoods apartments on Six Forks Road in Raleigh and the Glen Lennox apartment community on Hamilton Road in Chapel Hill.

In October, Grubb and FCP paid a little over $10 million for Riverwoods, a 174-unit complex. The joint venture plans to invest additional capital into the property and rename it Sterling Forest Apartments.

Glen Lennox includes 440 one-story apartments spread over 69 acres.
 

Federal Capital Partners and Grubb Properties announced today a $42 million joint venture investment in two apartment communities in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. 

The venture includes the Riverwoods apartments on Six Forks Road in Raleigh and the Glen Lennox apartment community on Hamilton Road in Chapel Hill.

In October, Grubb and FCP paid a little over $10 million for Riverwoods, a 174-unit complex.

The joint venture plans to invest additional capital into the property and rename it Sterling Forest Apartments.

Glen Lennox includes 440 one-story apartments spread over 69 acres.
 

From correspondent Sabrina Short

Changes to the Glen Lennox neighborhood near the UNC campus are at least five years out, developer Clay Grubb said at a community visioning workshop Saturday.

“We are going to have to make some changes, but we don’t have to make them tomorrow,” said Grubb, whose company owns the Glen Lenox apartments and shopping center. “We are committed to taking the time that it takes to come up with something that the majority of us think is a win-win.”

Saturday’s session at the Church of the Holy Family Episcopal Parish wrapped a three-day workshop with about 70 residents, Town Council members and three architecture firms helping to develop a future vision for the neighborhood.

The town is crafting a neighborhood conservation district, or set of guidelines designed to protect the character of the neigborhood, which began as a home for soldiers and their families after World War II.

The push for the special zoning protection began after Grubb Properties announced plans to redevelop the cottage-style apartments and shopping center After much opposition, Grubb backed off, publicly apologized and pledged to develop a new plan. 

Remember the ruckus? Well, the planning for a neighborhood conservation district in the Glen Lennox community is under way.

Monday night the Town Council picked the group that will draft proposed safeguards to preserve the character of the community across from East 54 and down the road from Meadowmont. (NCDs are interesting by the way, with recent concerns the Northside NCD is not working as planned and even progressive types questioning the wisdom of trying to freeze neighborhood character.)

Town Planner Rae Buckley sent this list out today:

·         3 Tenants of the Glen Lennox apartments: Betty Boylan, Janna Dieckmann, Molly McConnell
·         3 Property owners in the Single Family Residential properties located along Flemington Road, Hayes Road, Rogerson Drive and Oakwood Drive:  John J.B. Anderson, John Paul, Sherry Stockton
·         3 Representatives or affiliates of Grubb Properties: Vanessa Blackwood-Spinks, W. Clay Grubb, Todd Williams
·         3 At-large members: John M. Davis, Madeline Jefferson, Glenn Parks
·         2 Planning Board members (to co-chair the committee): Andrea Rohrbacher and Mike Collins (not read aloud by Council)
·         1 Commercial tenant of the Glen Lennox commercial complex: No applications and no appointment
·         1 Representative or affiliate of the Church of the Holy Family: Deedee Nachman
·         1 Resident of an existing Town of Chapel Hill Neighborhood Conservation District: Delores Bailey

Buckley anticipates the group will hold its first meeting in June. Previous NCD processes have lasted a year or more.

Just got to write up today's meeting on Glen Lennox -- twice. First a short story for tomorrow's N&O and then a longer piece for Wednesday's CH News. (Trick is making that second one fresh by the time you read it; tell me how I did on Wednesday.)

Anyway, it's an interesting story. Grubb told residents his company needs to redevelop to make money. He said they spend $100,000 marketing the half-century old cottages. In other words, despite the love many Chapel Hillians have for them, they're not first, or second or third, on most renters' lists. At least not until recently. It's only with the recession, Grubb said, that occupancy has reached the mid-90 percent level.

He's an interesting guy. Skinny and talks about his mom a lot (how she would have opposed that first redevelopment plan, the one with three parking decks and a high-rise hotel). He listened patiently for two hours and then stayed to talk with everyone who came up to him afterward. He freely admits the company blew it the first time around.

And for now anyway, he's in no rush. The recession has slowed the development business and given him time to think about Glen Lennox he says he didn't have a year and a half ago. And he says it's a two way street from here out. If he can redevelop part of the property, he thinks he can preserve the affordable housing on other parts.

"Glen Lennox has a heart and soul," he says. "[But] we can't preserve it the way it is."  

Clay Grubb, president of Grubb Properties, tried to get the Chapel Hill Town Council to hold off on new zoning rules for the Glen Lennox area last week. He lost, at least for now. But in asking for a delay in the Neighborhood Conservation District process, Grubb gave the community a better understanding of why the company wants to tear down the  cottage  apartments that for many people define Chapel Hill. We're going to run his letter to the town in Sunday's Chapel Hill News, but in the meantime here is an excerpt. 

"The apartments, initially constructed in 1949, are outdated and compete poorly in today’s marketplace. They are undersized in comparison with other competing apartments in the area and provide insufficient bathroom and kitchen space. They do not provide adequate electrical outlets for today’s technology-driven lifestyle or sufficient ambient lighting and they are extremely inefficient with respect to energy use. They do not comply with the accessibility standards set forth by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and some of the building materials used at the time of construction have since been deemed hazardous.

"All of these factors depress our rental rates and force us to offer expensive and ever-increasing concessions to maintain occupancy.
At the same time, maintenance expenses increase every year just to keep the apartments habitable. They are plagued with water infiltration issues and moisture control problems.

"If Glen Lennox is not allowed to change in a way that benefits the Town of Chapel Hill then it will continue to decline."

Chapel Hill town staff is recommending the Town Council not act on a request for a development moratorium on N.C. 54 East Wednesday night.

The town Planning Board had voted 6-0 for a moratorium.

The staff based its decision on two factors: First, the council is already planning to discuss the future of the corridor this September. Second, the council could call a public hearing on a moratorium as late as Nov. 10 without risking any additional large-scale development there.

You can read our story about the Planning Board vote here. Chairman Geoge Cianciolo said there wasn't much discussion because everyone thought it was a good idea.

But in a memo to the council, staffers don't recommend a moratorium now because it's not an urgent need. The big projects under way -- Castalia at Meadowmont, Woodmont and others -- would not be affected by a temporary development ban.

The biggest project on the horizon -- the redevelopment of the Glen Lennox neighborhood won't come back to the council until Nov. 17. That gives the town plenty of time to have its September discussion about N.C. 54 East and still consider a moratorium if needed.

You can read the town staff memo here.

Ernie Dollar, director of the Preservation Society of Chapel Hill, has set up an e-mail address to receive citizen comments about Glen Lennox. He wants to know what people think about plans to replace the current 400 apartments and shopping center with an upscale mix of multi-story homes, office and shops. Here's an exxcerpt from a letter, which he has sent to Glen Lennox residents and others:

"Many folks outside the neighborhood and email loop are still very clueless of the situation and don't consider the dangerous precedent that demolition would have for the rest of Chapel Hill. I think if more news of the redevelopment reached more folks, especially to the great number of those who have a connection to the Glen Lennox, it would tug at their heartstrings and garner support."

"When I talk to leaders in the community, who are curious about the situation, they ask me: How many folks want to save Glen Lennox? Are they homeowners or tenants? Is it really historic? Ultimately, they ask me, "Is it worth saving?" It is a tough sale at times. But the more I learn about the community, and its great history, the more people I hear from, and the more organizations who are involved, promoting preservation of Glen Lennox as a valuable historical asset to Chapel HIll becomes much easier."

To send your comments to the Preservation Society e-mail saveglenlennox@mail.com