UNC Chapel Hill planning their largest campus expansion in over 200 years

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill plans to expand its campus within Carolina North to increase academic needs, housing and infrastructure, public transportation, research and more, making this project the university’s largest expansion in more than 200 years.

UNC-Chapel Hill will project a 230-acre learning, living, working and playing footprint within Carolina North on and around the former Horace Williams Airport site, located along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Chapel Hill.

Phase 1 planning will evaluate student housing, academic and research space, multi-family residences, hotels and ground floor retail.

“We have a fundamental obligation to the people of this state. As North Carolina continues to be one of the fastest growing states in America, the demand for qualified North Carolina students will only increase. If we do not create the physical capacity necessary to serve more of them at the same level of excellence, we will either have to turn away thousands of our own citizens or diminish the quality of education we provide. Neither is acceptable for the state’s flagship university,” said Chancellor Lee H. Robert.

VIEW | North Hills rezoning approval draws mixed reactions to taller buildings

Artificial intelligence will function as a shared, community-managed resource under the new model.

Physical and digital connections to UNC Health and the main campus will help students conduct research more easily, promoting hands-on learning, applied research and faster discovery.

Public transportation is expected to improve as new developments allow for more efficient parking, better pedestrian traffic, and efficient ways to connect to I-40.

The first stages of site preparation and infrastructure work should begin before the groundbreaking scheduled for summer 2027.

Be sure to download the ABC 11 mobile app | ABC11 North Carolina apps for connected TV, mobile news and Echo