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This great question involves the University's Department of Philosophy, but it is not focused on any great idea, but on real estate -- 63 acres to be exact.
But it is not as simple as it might first appear.
The question before University administrators and trustees is what might be done with the property to serve the best interests of the University and community, while at the same time, fulfilling the will and wishes of Horace Williams, the philosophy professor who bequeathed the property -- known as the Horace Williams Satellite -- to the University more than half a century ago.
The 63-acre tract is in Carrboro, just northwest of the 979 acres that Williams also gave the University and that also bears his name.
Nancy Suttenfield, the vice chancellor for finance and administration, reviewed the property with University trustees at their Jan. 24 meeting. She also asked for specific guidance on whether the University should sell it so it can become part of Winmore, a village-style community of single- and multi-family homes already being planned for an adjoining property located along Bolin Creek and across from Chapel Hill High School.
The developers of the Winmore project are Philip Szostak, a Chapel Hill architect, and Bob Chapman, a planner based in Durham.
Suttenfield told trustees that what is intriguing about the developers' offer is that it appears to mesh with the University's longstanding goal of seeking ways to create more affordable housing near campus to serve the needs of faculty and staff. Suttenfield noted that 75 percent of staff members earn less than $40,000 a year, while one-third of faculty earn less than $75,000.
The shortage of affordable housing convenient to campus, administrators have long believed, is a factor that has made it more difficult to attract and keep employees.
As envisioned, the Winmore project would put 207 homes on the 63 acres the developers already own. Of these homes, 25 percent would be built under 1,350 square feet, while 10 percent would be priced at $100,000 or less.
If the University sold its 63 acres to the Winmore project, between 150 and 170 additional homes could be built, Suttenfield told trustees. Hills and a stream would limit development in some parts of the tract.
Both 63-acre parcels fall in what Carrboro now calls its "Northern Transition Area," an area of farmland and forest north of Carborro's boundaries that was the focus of a 1995 study group seeking to encourage the use of smart growth principles while adding more affordable housing.
More than 40 percent of the Winmore development, for instance, would be dedicated to open space, including a village green, a soccer field and park area.
As appealing as the offer appears, there are a number of other factors involved, Suttenfield said.
First among those is Williams' will, which originally gave all his property to the University and directed that it be held in trust forever, with the income from the property to be used for philosophy fellowships.
Nearly 50 years later, in April of 1999, the University and philosophy department reached a settlement on exactly how the will would be executed.
In the agreement, the department waived any claim to the main parcel now known as the "Horace Williams tract."
In return, the University is required to pay $2 million into the Mary Taylor Williams Fellowship Trust and another $2 million into the Bertha Colton Williams Fellowship Fund within 10 years from the time of the agreement.
The agreement also required the University to pay $500,000 each into the Mary Taylor Williams Fellowship Trust and the Bertha Colton Williams Fellowship Fund at the time of the agreement.
The agreement calls for proceeds from the sale of the 63-acre satellite parcel to be used to fund the fellowships.
Another critically important issue, Suttenfield said, is developing a business plan for trustees to approve that would define the number and mix of homes to be built, along with what prices they would be sold for to keep them affordable.
And trustees made it clear during their Jan. 24 discussion that developing such a business plan would be difficult, as would selling the land for anything close to the $910,000 that it was appraised at a year ago.
Trustee Hugh McColl, for instance, could not believe that such a large parcel of land so close to campus could be appraised at below $1 million. "The dirt would be worth more than that," he said.
Another thorny question had to do with whether the University should take an active role in managing the property in order to ensure that affordable housing remains available to University employees not just the first time the houses are sold but every time they are sold thereafter.
As Tim Burnett, board chair, put it, "There can't be a one-time windfall" for the first buyer.
One suggestion mentioned at the meeting was for the University to get a "right-of-first refusal" whenever a home goes up for sale.
Trustee Richard Stevens, though, cautioned against the University getting into the real-estate business. "That's not our mission," Stevens said. "There have to be other ways to do it besides setting up an office in Nancy's office."
The trustees are expected to discuss the land again this spring after members have had a chance to review background information in more detail.
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