Briar Chapel Commercial Development Underway

briar_chapel_sign-605x250Exciting developments are underway for the Briar Chapel community in Chapel Hill, NC! Developers broke ground Thursday, Feb. 18, 2016 on a 42,500-square-foot commercial and educational project, called “Veranda,” at the corner of Briar Chapel Parkway and U.S. 15-501 in northern Chatham County. The complex is the first of four similar projects planned for the 1,589-acre Briar Chapel community, which has added more than 2,000 residents and 800 homes since 2007, and is approved for up to 2,400 homes. The community boasts 900 acres of preserved open space and 24 miles of nature trails.

The Veranda will include five buildings and over 50,000 square feet of commercial space on six acres near the Briar Chapel community. Veranda’s leasing and construction will be overseen by Montgomery Development, and will include the following tenants:
  • Alberello Italian Cafe (a new concept restaurant by Brendan and Leslie Cox, owners of Oakleaf Restaurant in Pittsboro, NC)
  • Capp’s Apizza
  • Breakaway Coffee Cafe and Cycling Store
  • Town Hall Burger and Bistro
  • Primrose School of Chapel Hill and Briar Chapel
  • Chatham Pediatric Dentistry
  • Parkway Family Dentistry
  • Carolina Convenient Care
  • Triangle Vision
  • 501 Pharmacy and Compounding
  • Dermatology and Laser Center of Chapel Hill
  • Bradshaw & Robinson Law
  • MENSCUTS Hair Salon

Veranda will also include large outdoor dining areas and outdoor fireplaces, a performance stage, and a variety of new concepts from the area’s cutting-edge restaurateurs.

John Fugo, co-founder of Montgomery Development, says that the goal of Veranda is to create an environment similar to the Southern Village community in Chapel Hill. “What we are creating here is a place where we hope everyone will come, and feel very comfortable,” he says. “We’ve got a tremendous list of tenants…great restaurants, great food, experienced operators, and a place where you will want to come and stay.”
Following construction of Veranda, the next planned complex will include 500,000 square feet of retail, restaurant, office, and educational construction on 30 acres between Taylor and Andrews Store roads.  According to project manager Lee Bowman, committed partners for this complex currently include Chatham County Government and Central Carolina Community College, which could open a health sciences facility by 2018. “Everyone had to deal with the recession, (but) we came out of it strong, and we think our development plan is still solid,” says Bowman. “We’ve had to make some modifications like everyone to be solvent…and we figured it out.”