University Place's next round of construction was supposed to fill the eastern parcels between the main mall building and Fordham Boulevard. Ram Realty has put that phase on hold. By September the temporary construction fencing had come down, opening sight lines from the road. The east end already had The Commons, a 30,000-square-foot lawn with swing benches and seating that the News & Observer reported open in March 2025. Now the paused land beside it is being turned into park space, with picnic tables and lawn games planned, and the whole area has been added to the mall's new entertainment district. Because of the pause, the east-end green is getting bigger before any new buildings go up around it. Nearly every change at University Place this fall, from the new drink permit to the new bookstore, now connects to that green.
What the 2021 plan put by Fordham Boulevard
When Chapel Hill approved the special use permit for University Place's redevelopment in 2021, the plan divided the property into pods. Chapelboro's account of that approval describes Pod A along Willow Drive with up to 255 apartments over ground-floor retail. Pod C, on the Fordham Boulevard side, was set aside for a central park or green space with programmed room for the Chapel Hill Farmers' Market and other recurring events, plus a possible 125-room hotel.
The green was always planned for the east end, next to buildings. With the buildings delayed, the green is growing first.
No published reason for the pause has surfaced. In August, University Place general manager Marni Sawicki of JLL Property Management told Chapelboro that Ram Realty's Phase 3 was delayed and that the land would be turned into a park in the meantime.
The fence came down, and the furniture is on the way
At the September ribbon cutting, Sawicki described what is planned for the newly opened space, which is not all installed yet, in an interview with Chapelboro:
"We will have picnic tables, horseshoes, bocci ball, [and] cornhole that will be going in that space. 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."
In August she also floated a possible cornhole league and some fall festival activities, and said the property's own live music and movies in the park would continue. Those were plans, not scheduled events. The events that are on the calendar are smaller. University Place's events page listed Sunday-evening live music with Sam Trebing from 7 to 9 p.m. on October 18 and October 25. The outdoor film series ran on the first and third Fridays of June and July. For anything in November and December, the University Place site is the place to check.
A permit that runs the restaurants out to the lawn
The drink permit that took effect this fall links the west end of the property to the green. University Place became an entertainment district, branded UP Social, with a soft opening at the start of September and a ribbon cutting with the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro on September 16. Customers can buy alcoholic drinks to go from participating restaurants and carry them into designated outdoor spaces. The participating restaurants are bartaco and its mobile margarita stand, Hawkers Asian Street Fare, Stoney River Steakhouse & Grill and Silverspot.
The mechanism is different from a downtown social district. Chapelboro reported that entertainment districts are permitted directly by the North Carolina ABC Commission and apply only to private property. A social district comes from a local government ordinance and can stretch across public rights-of-way. Chapel Hill already had one example. Town economic development director David Putnam pointed to the entertainment district at Cedar Falls Courtyard off Weaver Dairy Road as a model.
District hours are 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, separate from each restaurant's own serving hours. The posted boundary runs from Stoney River to The Commons and Pop-UP Park, down to SolidCore. Cup sizes, ID checks and the other rules are on the UP Social page, and that page is the authority on them.
Sawicki described the route the district is meant to create, west to east, in the August Chapelboro interview:
- Stoney River at the western end
- The bar inside Silverspot
- bartaco and the pocket park out front, with music
- Hawkers
- Postino's patio, once it opens
- Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams across the way
- The Commons
Her stated goal was to "connect both sides" of the property. With the fencing gone and the paused parcels added to the district, the walk now continues past The Commons into the open land beyond it.
The daytime tenants on the same walk
The permit covers the evening. The rest of the day at University Place has also filled in, and it runs much earlier than 10 a.m.
H&H Bagels targeted January 15 to open at 239 S. Estes Drive, Suite 101, as the brand's first North Carolina location. Chapelboro reported daily hours of 6 a.m. to 4 p.m., indoor seating and a patio. Until September it was the only new business to open at University Place in 2026.
Barnes & Noble opened on September 23 at 201 S. Estes Drive, Suite 200A. The store fills more than 19,000 square feet in the suite Planet Fitness used before it moved to S. Elliott Road. Barnes & Noble already runs UNC's Student Stores, but Chapelboro reported that this is its first traditional store inside Chapel Hill town limits. Store manager Andrea Wilson told Chapelboro she hopes it becomes "that third place to go to." She mentioned story times, author events and two upcoming Lego events, and said her past stores hosted knitting groups and Dungeons & Dragons groups. Fantasy author Scott Reintgen, a 2010 UNC English graduate, cut the ribbon.
The farmers market came before all of it. The Chapel Hill Farmers' Market runs year-round at University Place, Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon and Tuesdays 3 to 6 p.m. That's the same use the 2021 plan reserved programmed space for in the Fordham-side green.
Then there's the 900 Willow building. The News & Observer described eight ground-floor incubator spaces there for services and startup retailers, with shorter leases and discounted rent. Tenants include The Soap and Shine, which sells handmade soaps, bath products and candles and offers classes, and Palette & Parlor, a furniture and accessories shop. Palette & Parlor's University Place listing places it at 900 Willow Dr., Suite 101, carrying furniture, lighting and rugs, including designs by North Carolina makers. Putnam told Chapelboro these studio spaces let local entrepreneurs "test their concepts in town" without downtown rents.
Put the published hours side by side and the property covers most of a day:
| Stop | Published hours |
|---|---|
| H&H Bagels | Daily, 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. at opening |
| Chapel Hill Farmers' Market | Saturdays 8 a.m. to noon, Tuesdays 3 to 6 p.m. |
| Barnes & Noble | Daily, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| UP Social district | Daily, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. |
What is still behind construction walls
Several of the businesses that would round out the walk aren't open yet. As of late October:
- Postino, the restaurant and wine bar, is taking Suite 302 with a 4,485-square-foot dining room and a 1,888-square-foot patio, and more than 20 wines by the glass. Chapelboro reported a fall target, and Postino's own locations page still lists Chapel Hill as coming soon.
- Bliss Nail Spa, next to Postino, is targeting fall 2026. It will be the business's second Chapel Hill location after Elliott Square.
- HomeSense, the home decor and furniture store, will fill 28,000 square feet on the north side of the main building, next to Barnes & Noble, with a spring 2027 target.
- The unit across The Commons from Jeni's is still open for a tenant. JLL confirmed that a previously announced deal with The Salty, a Florida doughnut and coffee shop, fell through and that it is looking for a different business.
The path that will reach The Commons from Fordham
The east end will also get a better way in on foot and by bike. The Town of Chapel Hill announced in September that construction on the Fordham Boulevard Sidepath between Cleland Drive and Willow Drive would start that month, closing the existing sidepath during the work. The new paved walking and cycling link to Blue Hill, University Place and other destinations is projected to open in winter 2027 at an expected cost of $2.4 million. That's a projection, and the town's project page will have the latest schedule. Until it opens, The Commons faces a road that's under construction too.
Want help keeping track of what's opening around University Place this winter, or curious how Chapel Hill's busy commercial areas factor into a future move? The team at Spotlight Realty follows these openings block by block and is glad to talk it through, no pressure.
