University Place Is Being Rebuilt Around Its Lawn, and the Cup Rules Show the Route

"We want this to be where people go, 'Where are you going tonight? Well, see you there.' And everybody knows this is 'there.'"

University Place property manager Marni Sawicki said that to Chapelboro at the September 16 ribbon-cutting for the mall's new entertainment district. Since then, the mall has added a marked outdoor boundary, a set of cup rules and a list of shops that let you walk in with a drink. The Chapel Hill Farmers' Market has moved to a new spot, and a 19,000-square-foot bookstore sits in a suite that used to be a gym. Put together, they show that University Place is being laid out as one walk outside, and the signs tell you which way it runs.

The boundary is the new map

The entertainment district is called UPSocial. It's a state ABC Commission permit for private property, which is different from a social district that a town creates through zoning. It's also the second one in town. In August, Chapel Hill Economic Development Director David Putnam told Chapelboro that the existing district at Cedar Falls Courtyard off Weaver Dairy Road gave the town a model to follow.

Four restaurants sell to-go drinks inside the boundary: Stoney River Steakhouse, the bar at Silverspot Cinema, bartaco and Hawkers. bartaco also runs a mobile margarita stand. The official UPSocial page says the boundary runs from Stoney River, through The Commons green space and Pop-UP Park, down to Solidcore. The district is open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day, and the 10 a.m. start was chosen to cover Sunday brunch.

Drinks travel only in UPSocial cups. Each one holds 16 ounces at most, is never glass, and carries both the UPSocial logo and the restaurant's logo. Drinks can't go into a vehicle, and the page counts bikes and scooters as vehicles. Disposal stations sit at every exit. The page also covers how many drinks one person can hold at a time, so check it before you order a second round.

Some stores inside the boundary display stickers that tell you whether a cup can come in:

• "Yes. Bring It." Verizon, The Frame & Print Shop
• "No. Finish It." Solidcore, Flying Biscuit, Cyclebar

The sticker list shows how the mall is meant to be walked. You can carry a cup into a phone store or a frame shop. You finish it before a workout class or breakfast. The district is set up for wandering between stops more than for sitting at one table.

The morning half starts at Stoney River

The same west end where the drink district begins now hosts the Saturday morning. The Chapel Hill Farmers' Market has moved to a new layout in front of Stoney River Steakhouse and Silverspot Cinema. The market was started in April 2008 by Farmers of Orange, a nonprofit run by local farmers, and every vendor lives within 60 miles of Chapel Hill.

The market's hours page currently lists Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon and Tuesdays from 3 to 6 p.m. That changes soon. University Place's own listing says Saturday winter hours begin on November 7, with the market open 9 a.m. to noon. So this Saturday, October 24, and the next one, October 31, still open at 8. Starting November 7, an 8 a.m. arrival means an hour's wait. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, the market's events page lists Music at Market with Sentimental Johnny, November 24, 3 to 5 p.m. If you'd rather leave the car at home, the market lists the F and G routes plus the Saturday D and FG routes as the buses that serve it.

When the market winds down, the next stop is the new Barnes & Noble. It opened September 23 at 201 S. Estes Dr., Suite 200A, in more than 19,000 square feet that Planet Fitness used to occupy. It's the 11th Barnes & Noble in North Carolina. The company already runs UNC's Student Stores, but this is its first traditional bookstore inside Chapel Hill town limits. Store manager Andrea Wilson told Chapelboro she wants it to be a "third place" and mentioned the knitting groups, Dungeons & Dragons groups and in-store music she has hosted at other locations. In October, the store's calendar has listed Saturday Storytime at 11 a.m. and Sunday Storytime at 1 p.m., so check it for the weekend you plan to go.

The bookstore gives the north side of the mall a reason to stop and stay a while. Until September, the only other new business to open at University Place in 2026 was H&H Bagels, which arrived in January.

One Saturday, walked in order

In August, Sawicki described the route to Chapelboro. Start at Stoney River, stop at the bar in Silverspot, go to bartaco and the pocket park out front where music is planned, pass Hawkers, and finish at the far end where Postino will have a patio. Jeni's sits across from it, and The Commons is beyond that. Here is that route as a Saturday that uses what's open now:

1. 8 a.m., farmers' market in front of Stoney River and Silverspot. It opens at 9 starting November 7.
2. Late morning, Barnes & Noble to browse, or for storytime if the store's calendar lists one that Saturday.
3. Lunch on the walk east. Hawkers and bartaco both sit along the UPSocial strip, and the drink district has been open since 10.
4. Afternoon on The Commons. Jeni's is across the way, and any drink from the four participating restaurants can come out onto the lawn in a UPSocial cup.
5. Errands with your cup in hand at Verizon or The Frame & Print Shop. Finish the drink before Solidcore, Flying Biscuit or Cyclebar.

The small shops in the 900 Willow building are part of the walk too. Purple Puddle is listed there as now open. Putnam told Chapelboro those studio retail spaces give local entrepreneurs room to try a concept they couldn't afford to test on Franklin Street.

The east side is a park while Phase 3 is on hold

The walk ends at the east side because that land is still waiting for development. Ram Realty's next phase of redevelopment, planned for the eastern parcels between the mall building and Fordham Boulevard, is on hold. Sawicki told Chapelboro that in the meantime the land will become a park with picnic tables and games, possibly a cornhole league, and the continued live music and movies the mall has been running. She also said University Place plans to try fall festival events. That's a plan from August, not a published calendar, so watch the mall's events page for dates.

The firmest fall date nearby is across the street. The Town of Chapel Hill's Haunted Hill Trunk or Treat runs Friday, October 30, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Chapel Hill Community Center Park, 120 S. Estes Dr. It's free and drop-in, with no registration. Local groups decorate their trunks and hand out pre-packaged candy, and a skateboard exhibition supplies boards and helmets. With an early dinner at the mall first, a family can walk to it.

What's still listed as coming

The directory signs are ahead of the storefronts. Here is where the announced tenants stand as of this week:

Postino matters most for how the walk works. It's one of the five businesses Chapelboro named as licensed for UPSocial when the district launched, though the official participating list still shows four. Once it opens, the strip will have a fifth place to buy a drink and a patio at the end of the route. The News & Observer reported that Whataburger filed a development application with the town for a location with a drive-thru on the property. JLL declined to comment on those talks. The unit at the far end of The Commons, across from Jeni's, is still looking for a tenant.

For now, a Saturday at University Place starts at the market in front of Stoney River at 8, or at 9 starting November 7, and ends on The Commons whenever you're done with your cup.

Keeping track of which Chapel Hill shopping centers are adding tenants, events and places to hang out is part of how Keith O'Hare reads the market around them. If you own near S. Estes Drive and wonder how the changes at University Place affect your home's value, start with a free home valuation.