CHAPEL HILL- Tuesday night, council members and residents heard from a developer who wants to bring a large retail center at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and I-40.

Jeff Pape, president of D & A Development, said the site would be ideal for three big box retailers, though he couldn’t give specifics.

"We’re not far enough along with any of the tenants to use names, but those are very specific footprints intended for very specific retailers who are not currently in the Chapel Hill market and we think would like to be."

The 79 acre project calls for 700,000 square feet of mixed-use development on Eubanks Road. The plan, known as The EDGE, would bring a hotel, housing, restaurants, office and commercial space to the northern entrance of Chapel Hill.

Part of the project would supplant the town owned Park and Ride Lot. In a plan yet to be developed, the town would initiate a land swap with the developer to build a parking deck and transit center somewhere on the mixed use campus.

“This truly is going to need to be a very integrated partnership between the development and the town because of the town’s stake in this, with the Park and Ride,” said Pape. “I think there will have to be significant work done on how this is done.”

Portions of the property lie outside Chapel Hill, raising the question of joint-planning with Orange County or voluntary annexation.

Council members were guardedly optimistic about the project, which they hope will increase the town’s retail tax base. Still, Matt Czajkowski reminded everyone of what’s at stake.

“One thing for sure… for a development of this magnitude and one which will be novel for Chapel Hill, we don’t want to build anything based on theory,” he warned. “We cannot make any mistakes on this one.”

A traffic analysis and transit study of the Eubanks Road area is due in October. The developer plans to proceed with a formal application once that’s complete.