Development Partner for Carolina North development at UNC Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is requesting qualifications for a Development Partner to deliver the mixed-use district component of Carolina North, a 240-acre university expansion 1.6 miles north of the main campus, with qualifications due October 16, 2026 at 4:00 PM ET. This is a two-stage procurement: Part 1 (RFQ) will produce a shortlist of qualified firms in mid-November, and Part 2 (RFP) will be issued only to shortlisted respondents the week of November 23, 2026.

The scope spans master planning, design, financing, construction, and long-term stewardship of a 30–50 acre mixed-use district. The development program requires a minimum of 1,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate student housing beds; affordable housing comprising 15 percent of market-rate units (with at least half at 65 percent AMI and the remainder at 80 percent AMI); workforce housing; UNC Health medical office space; and market-rate housing alongside retail, dining, commercial office, and hospitality uses. The partnership model begins with a Pre-Development Agreement in which the Development Partner acts as development and strategy advisor for master planning and feasibility analysis, then transitions to an at-risk Development Agreement for Phase 1 delivery. UNC retains fee ownership of all land under long-term ground leases up to 99 years with no developer purchase options, and all improvements revert to the state at lease termination. The Development Partner must source all development costs through private equity and non-recourse debt with no University financial guarantee or credit pledge.

UNC has allocated $8 million for advanced planning and $35 million for early infrastructure works in fiscal year 2026-2027, to be funded and delivered independently of the Development Partner's responsibilities. Respondents must be registered North Carolina vendors in good standing and submit a single PDF file not exceeding 40 pages electronically through the State's eVP portal. Required qualifications include demonstrated experience in large-scale mixed-use development, university partnerships, public-private partnerships, brownfield remediation, student and affordable housing, placemaking, and district-scale infrastructure delivery, with a minimum of three project references. An optional pre-submission meeting is scheduled for September 16, 2026, and an optional site visit for September 22, 2026. Shortlist interviews will occur the week of November 2, 2026, with announcement of prequalified respondents the week of November 13, 2026.