Jim Norton threw his support behind several already city-approved downtown housing projects at a Friends ofBruce Runberg, Jim Norton, Dick Mann and Gordon Merklein at a recent event welcoming Norton to town. Downtown meeting today, saying housing is critical to the health of a vibrant retail center. “You’ve got to have housing in place,” said Norton, who has been the director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership for about four weeks. “Downtowns across the country have put emphasis on downtown living and you should, too.”

Specifically, Norton praised Chapel Hill for three of its upcoming downtown residential projects: the Greenbridge development, Rosemary Village and 140 West Franklin. 

Norton added that he hopes UNC’s development of University Square would include housing. He said that stores will follow housing, though it can take three to five years. During the Q & A session of the meeting, town council member and mayoral candidate Matt Czajkowski asked Norton why he “would focus on residential rather than commercial office space.”

Norton responded: “I mentioned housing because housing is the most difficult to do. I didn’t mean to put one over the other. You’re right. Office space is a huge need.”

Jim NortonAbout a month ago, Jim Norton, the soon-to-be executive director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, visited Franklin Street to get a look at the area he would soon champion.

His first impression? “Ninety percent of downtowns would kill to have the amount of retail and restaurant activity and entertainment that you have downtown,” said Norton, who will soon leave his post as president of Downtown Tulsa Unlimited, the organization that advocates for downtown Tulsa, Okla.

That may be true, but Franklin Street has its share of problems, which surely its many stakeholders will talk to Norton about when he gets here in June. Concern has swirled around panhandlers by business storefronts, the bleed of retail spending away from Franklin Street to other retail centers such as The Streets at Southpoint in Durham, and the few, but hard to miss empty storefronts that don’t seem to ever get filled.

 Chapel Hill’s Downtown Partnership announced the hiring of Norton last week. In a brief interview today, Norton was reticent to say where he would first target his efforts, but he did talk about the tools he used in Tulsa to solve problems that have also plagued downtown Chapel Hill – such as vacant properties owned by landlords who won’t sell or lease.

About a year ago, Norton said Tulsa passed a nuisance ordinance that would force owners of dilapidated buildings to fix up their properties and bring them up to code.

Though Norton said he was unsure whether that would be a solution in Chapel Hill, he said, “We’ll look at all the tools that are available to us.”

To see the full text on Norton’s hiring, go here.