Established
1994
Acres
312
School District
CHCCS
Village Center
Market St
About Southern Village
Southern Village is a 312-acre New Urbanism community in south Chapel Hill, approximately two miles from the UNC campus. It opened in 1994 and 1995 and was the top-selling neighborhood in the Triangle for years after opening. The community includes roughly 550 single-family homes, 375 townhomes and condos, 250 apartments, and 350,000 square feet of retail, office, and civic space.
The commercial core, Market Street, runs through an oval at the center of the neighborhood. Weaver Street Market, Lumina Theater, the Hyatt Place hotel, restaurants, medical clinics, a gym, and local shops all front the oval or are within a short walk. The Village Green, a public lawn at the heart of the community, hosts outdoor movies, concerts, farmers markets, 5Ks, and food festivals — it is booked roughly 100 days per year.
Southern Village is built out. There are no new construction phases. Resale inventory is active across all housing types. Occasional teardown-rebuild custom infill happens on older lots, but new development is finished.
Developer and Origins
D.R. Bryan of Bryan Properties, Inc. developed Southern Village in partnership with broker Jim Earnhardt. Bryan, a Rocky Mount native with a law degree from Wake Forest, founded Bryan Properties in 1984. Before designing Southern Village, he traveled to Pienza, Italy to study the source of European village urbanism, and to Seaside, Florida and Kentlands, Maryland.
Andres Duany and Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, the founders of the New Urbanism movement, spoke to the Chapel Hill Town Council in the early 1990s. Bryan attended and brought their principles into the Southern Village design. The Town used a conditional-use zoning process to enable the village pattern. Bryan personally served as architect as well as developer.
Bryan Properties donated land for Mary Scroggs Elementary School, which sits on-site and is within walking distance of most of the community, and for the United Methodist Church. Bryan Properties has been named Developer of the Year in the Triangle twice.
Architecture and Design
Southern Village is a New Urbanism design built on principles Bryan studied in Pienza, Italy and at Seaside, Florida and Kentlands, Maryland. Streets are narrow and sidewalk-aligned. Front porches face the street. Garages are pushed to the rear of lots or accessed from alleys so the streetscape reads as houses, not driveways. Setbacks are shallow and consistent within each block, which is what gives the residential streets their walkable rhythm.
Housing types are intentionally mixed within walking distance of each other — single-family homes, townhomes, row houses, cottage homes, condos, and apartments share blocks rather than getting segregated into separate subdivisions. That mix was unusual for Chapel Hill in the mid-1990s and is part of why the village center works as a daily-use commercial core rather than a destination strip. Bryan served as architect as well as developer, so the architectural language across the residential streets is more coherent than in most master-planned communities of this size.
What's Inside
- Market Street — walkable commercial oval with groceries, restaurants, and services
- Weaver Street Market co-op grocery
- Lumina Theater — neighborhood movie cinema
- Village Green — public lawn, 100+ events per year
- Hyatt Place Southern Village — 110-room hotel (opened 2016)
- Medical clinics, dentist, gym, and professional offices
- Mary Scroggs Elementary School — on-site, walkable
- Sidewalk-connected streets throughout
Schools
| School | Type | Grades |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Scroggs Elementary | Public | K – 5 |
| Culbreth Middle School | Public | 6 – 8 |
| Carrboro High School | Public | 9 – 12 |
| Carolina Friends School | Private | K – 12 |
District: Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools (CHCCS). Verify boundaries before purchase.
Common Questions
Yes. Market Street puts groceries, restaurants, a movie theater, and services within walking distance of most homes. The Village Green hosts events through much of the year, and sidewalks connect residential streets to the village center.
Most homes are zoned for Mary Scroggs Elementary, which sits on land donated by the developer and is within walking distance of much of the community. Middle school is Culbreth. High school is generally Carrboro High, less than two miles away. Verify your specific lot assignment with CHCCS before purchasing.
Single-family homes, townhomes, row houses, cottage homes, condos, and apartments. The mix was intentional and unusual for Chapel Hill when the community opened. Resale inventory spans all building types at different price points.
D.R. Bryan of Bryan Properties, Inc. Bryan traveled to Pienza, Italy and Seaside, Florida to study New Urbanism before designing the community. He served as both developer and architect. Bryan Properties has been named Developer of the Year in the Triangle twice.
No. Southern Village is resale only. The community is built out. Occasional teardown-rebuild infill happens on older lots, but no new phases are being developed.
Southern Village is part of the broader Chapel Hill real estate market. See the Chapel Hill market overview.
Interested in Southern Village?
Mike represents buyers and sellers in Southern Village. Whether you are looking to buy, sell, or understand the current market, the first conversation is free.
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