The new Carrboro CVS is one step closer to reality
What’s the controversy over CVS in Carrboro?
CVS Caremark has formally submitted plans to develop the northwest corner of West Weaver Street and North Greensboro Street into a mixed use building which will ultimately house a CVS drugstore. CVS currently has a store across the street in the Carr Mill Mall complex next to the Harris Teeter. The property is actually in the name of Revco Drug Discount Centers Inc. CVS bought Revco in 1998 and rebranded all Revco stores as CVS stores so I’m not sure why the property was purchased in the name of Revco.
The property was owned by Ruffin Slater, general manager of Weaver Street Market, under the name of Carrboro Community LLC. I have a personal interest in this property because I can see it from my office.
It didn’t always look this bad – many years ago this was a bank building although I can’t recall which one – perhaps First Citizens bank. Then for a few years Mayor Mark Chilton ran his Community Realty office out of the building and kept it looking much better. But for the past few years the building has fallen into disrepair and the landscaping is overgrown. Slater’s LLC, which he ran on behalf of Weaver Street Market, sold the property in June of 2010. The purchase contract, according to this post on the WSM website, was in the name of Raleigh developer Mark Pantlin but the property was actually deeded to Revco.
So why the fuss over a CVS in Carrboro?
This property is located at the juncture between commercial and residential areas. The plan for the 1.5 acre site includes a two-story building with 26,000 square feet of retail and office space which will bring more traffic into an area that for many years has been quiet and peaceful due to the building’s vacancy. Some of the old mill houses remain on Center Street, the street that would adjoin the new CVS property. Here is a map showing the location of the proposed CVS building and the old CVS which has been right across the street for many years, originally as a Revco store. CVS’s current lease will not be renewed because the Harris Teeter will be expanding into that space.
Understandably, the neighbors on Center Street would rather not have a new commercial building on their block, but the fact is that with Carrboro’s property taxes one of the highest in North Carolina Carrboro needs a bigger commercial tax base. A CVS is already located there so it’s not as though a new chain store is being introduced into the cozy downtown area. It seems to me that the logical place to build a new commercial building is at the corner of one of the main commercial intersections in Carrboro, but neighbors do not agree.
The plan is actually pretty attractive.
I believe that much of the immediate reaction to having a CVS sited in such a visible location was the idea of a freestanding CVS store such as the one we typically see in shopping centers. However, the plan that was presented to the Carrboro planning department last fall included these drawings of the proposed buildings:
I was actually pretty excited when I saw this – it seems to fit right into the image of downtown Carrboro and echoes the design of Carr Mill Mall which is right across the street. In reality it seems to be a vast improvement over the old CVS (follow the mall link to view photos of the current CVS store). And it certainly is a vast improvement over the eyesore that this corner has become.
A portion of the property needs to be rezoned for the new CVS to be built and public meetings will be held so that the community can offer their opinions. Stay tuned for more details!
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Comments
The rumor is that the Harris Teeter will expand into the current CVS space. A move by CVS will greatly improve the Carr Mill parking situation. Because the CVS is just moving across the street I don’t see where traffic to that corner would be greatly increased, but the offices above the CVS would bring in more businesses to the downtown. The positive side to this would be more support to downtown businesses which have been struggling in the depressed economy.
It’s always a CVS, isn’t it? Here in my little NJ town, we have a catering hall across from 4 dilapidated eyesore houses that are empty and boarded up. The owner of the catering hall is holding it all hostage because he wants a CVS on the property. The intersection in question has the same issues, where it is inadequate to handle the traffic in and out of the CVS. And somehow I don’t think ours will be in as nice a building as this rendering. Towns are looking for ratables, and CVS clearly knows this…but the towns also need to look at traffic flows (or, as Bethany pointed out), making such things walk and bike-friendly, as part of the planning.
Carrboro is famous for its walkability and bikeability, which is why it has blossomed from the “red-headed stepchild” of Chapel Hill into the “Paris of the Piedmont.” But Bethany is right about that intersection of Greensboro and Weaver – it was not designed to carry the amount of traffic that it now shuttles through town.
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I think it looks like an improvement for the corner but I can see the concern of the Carrboro residents as well. I lived in that area in the late 90s and traffic could be slow through that intersection/area. Unless some improvement to the traffic pattern has been implemented, or will be implemented, I can see this being a problem. One of the reasons I liked living in Carrboro was the ability to walk to the Mall and the grocery and the CVS, perhaps more people should walk, then new traffic will be less of a concern.
Any news on what will occupy the old CVS space?