By Gene Galin
Pittsboro, NC – As Chatham County continues to evolve, the local real estate market is witnessing unprecedented changes driven by major projects and community developments. From the anticipated impact of an automotive giant like Toyota to the burgeoning Chatham Park and the potential influence of Disney, the region is at a pivotal moment. I sat down with Eric Andrews of Realty World Carolina Properties to discuss the current state of the Chatham County real estate market, examining key developments, community sentiments, and the challenges that lie ahead. [part 3 of a 4 part series]
Major Projects Reshaping Chatham County
Toyota’s Expansion and Its Impact
Among the most significant developments affecting Chatham County is Toyota’s expansion, which, although not directly located in the county, has had a ripple effect on neighboring areas. The automotive giant is shifting its focus toward hybrid vehicles, a strategy that has resonated well with consumers, as evidenced by the positive reception of Toyota hybrids in reliability studies by Consumer Reports. As a result, land prices in areas such as Siler City and the northwestern corridor of Chatham County are on the rise, reflecting the increased demand for housing and commercial spaces.
The Uncertain Future of Wolfspeed
In contrast, the future of Wolfspeed, a semiconductor manufacturer, remains uncertain. Despite substantial physical investments and preparations, the company has faced challenges that have left many speculating about its viability in the area. Eric expresses hope that the cleared land will attract new businesses, as the location remains prime for development despite Wolfspeed’s struggles.
VinFast: A Cautionary Tale
VinFast, another automotive company, has faced mounting difficulties that have led to skepticism about its planned operations in Chatham County. With deadlines looming and production goals unmet, many, including myself, believe that the project may not materialize as initially envisioned. Nonetheless, the land prepared for VinFast holds promise for future developments, provided that new investors seize the opportunity.
Disney’s Asteria and the Chatham Park Effect
In 2023, Disney announced Asteria, a Storyliving by Disney residential community to be built inside the Chatham Park master-planned development in Pittsboro.
Key facts emerging in 2024–25:
- Size: Roughly 1,500–1,550 acres.
- Homes: About 4,000 residential units, including a 55+ Del Webb neighborhood.
- Timing: Groundbreaking in 2025; sales expected to begin around 2027, with initial occupancy likely in 2028.
- Features: Disney-curated amenities, parks, trails and community spaces, integrated with Chatham Park’s broader mix of housing, retail and office uses.
Chatham Park’s own 2025 year-in-review highlights Asteria as a key milestone and notes that the project builds on years of infrastructure investment, from utilities and roads to greenways and mixed-use centers like Mosaic at Chatham Park.
Andrews sees Asteria as a validation of Chatham Park’s long-term vision:
“Disney seems like the real deal here in Pittsboro. I think this Chatham Park thing has some staying power.”
He points out that local leadership around Mosaic—where the Orange Chatham Association of REALTORS® now has its offices—is increasingly attuned to Chatham County’s unique market dynamics.
For buyers, Asteria and Chatham Park mean:
- A pipeline of new, master-planned housing that is explicitly marketed to out-of-state relocators and move-up local buyers.
- A growing contrast between high-amenity, HOA-governed neighborhoods and older, more rural housing stock in unincorporated areas.
- Strong confidence among investors that Pittsboro is a long-term destination, not a pass-through town.
Main Street Makeover: The Hardee’s Block and Downtown Pittsboro
The megaprojects grab statewide headlines, but Andrews points out another transformational project much closer to home: a major mixed-use redevelopment in downtown Pittsboro, next to the Hardee’s on East Street.
“I sold half the block next to Hardee’s to a development group out of Miami,” he explains. Working with another local broker, the buyers assembled most of the block, including multiple buildings and rear lots.
The concept, as Andrews describes it:
- Urban-style mixed use, built close to the sidewalk with parking in the rear, in line with Pittsboro’s downtown vision.
- Retail and commercial space at street level with apartments above, echoing popular urban infill projects in larger metros.
- Height limits calibrated so that nothing appears taller than the courthouse, using the natural drop in topography away from Hillsboro Street to allow three or four stories without visually overpowering the historic core.
Town officials—including the town manager and local economic development staff—have been “amazing to work with,” Andrews says, contrasting their collaborative approach with more rigid or unresponsive neighboring jurisdictions.
For the real estate market, this downtown push matters because it:
- Adds walkable, in-town housing units at a time when most new construction is on larger suburban lots.
- Strengthens the economic case for restaurants, shops and services in the historic core.
- Signals that Pittsboro intends to be more than a bedroom community for Chapel Hill and Cary.
Challenges Facing Chatham County
Traffic and Infrastructure Strain
As Chatham County experiences growth, residents have expressed concerns about increased traffic and infrastructure strain. With more people moving into the area, local roads and schools are feeling the pressure. Chatham remains heavily commuter-oriented, with many residents driving daily to jobs in Chapel Hill, Durham, Cary and Raleigh. As more rooftops rise, the mismatch between where people live and where they work is increasingly visible in clogged intersections and long lines at key signals. The rapid pace of growth poses significant hurdles.
Affordable Housing Crisis and the Case for Density
For Eric, the single biggest challenge facing Chatham County real estate is not whether big employers will come—it’s whether people who already live here or work here in ordinary jobs will be able to stay.
“I hate to be a broken record,” he says, “but it’s workforce housing, affordable housing… being able to find housing at a price point that is affordable for the average income around here is still our greatest issue.”
By late 2025:
- Median home prices in the county are among the highest in North Carolina, rivaling or exceeding many urban counties.
- Median listing prices in the $600,000–$700,000 range are common, with luxury communities easily crossing the $800,000 mark.
- Rental costs, though fluctuating, remain elevated relative to local incomes, even as more units slowly come onto the market.
Andrews argues that true affordability will require embracing higher density in the right places:
- He supports auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs)—the classic “mother-in-law” cottage or backyard apartment—which Pittsboro has generally been receptive to.
- More importantly, he says, the county needs to allow smaller lots and tighter subdivisions in areas with sewer service: Pittsboro, Siler City, Goldston and future utility districts.
“People say, ‘Oh, I don’t want all these houses crammed together.’ Yes, you do,” he insists. “If you want to make them more affordable, that’s what you want. And it has to be in an area that has sewer. We can’t do that in our rural areas.”.
Policy and Planning: Navigating New Regulations
The Impact of SB 382
During our discussion, Eric got into the impact of SB 382. Late 2024 brought a curveball that now shapes nearly every major planning and zoning discussion in Chatham County: Senate Bill 382.
Folded into the Disaster Recovery Act of 2024, SB 382 amended North Carolina’s zoning statutes to sharply restrict “down-zoning”—changes that reduce development density or permitted uses on a property without the owner’s consent.
Under the revised law, a local government cannot adopt a down-zoning unless every affected property owner provides written consent. Down-zoning is defined broadly to include any change that:
- Decreases allowable development density (for example, moving from one home per acre to one home per five acres).
- Reduces the number of permitted uses on a parcel.
- Creates new non-conformities in non-residential districts (for example, expanding buffer requirements in a way that makes existing uses non-compliant).
For Chatham County, the timing could not have been worse. The county had just completed a Unified Development Ordinance (UDO)—a comprehensive rewrite of its zoning and subdivision rules—after years of work by staff, consultants, a planning board subcommittee (including Andrews) and extensive public input.
In early 2025, Chatham officials announced they were pausing UDO rezoning work to understand SB 382’s implications and avoid exposing the county to legal challenges.
Andrews likens the current situation to purgatory:
“We’re in this like purgatory where… the planning board is like, ‘Didn’t we approve something in the UDO?’ And then the planning department goes, ‘UDO is not in effect. We’re still on the old [rules].’”
The stakes are more than technical:
- Without a modern UDO, the county has fewer tools to shape growth around infrastructure, protect corridors, or incentivize workforce housing.
- Developers and residents face uncertainty over what rules will govern long-term projects.
- Local officials must decide whether to spend heavily to re-draft the UDO from scratch in compliance with SB 382 or wait for possible legislative fixes in Raleigh.
For now, Andrews says, Chatham’s planning board is trying to do the best it can project by project, even as its larger regulatory framework sits on the shelf.
A Call for Community Involvement
Local planning boards, including Chatham County’s, are emphasizing the importance of community involvement in the decision-making process. Residents are encouraged to voice their concerns and participate in meetings, ensuring that their perspectives are considered as development plans unfold.
Safety, Connectivity and the Details That Matter
Beyond big policy issues, as a Chatham County Planning Board member, Eric has two personal crusades that reveal how growth shows up in everyday details:
- School-bus safety on highways.
He is adamant that new subdivisions along major corridors like U.S. 15-501 and U.S. 64 should be designed so school buses pull into neighborhoods, rather than stopping directly on the highway shoulder. “I don’t ever want to sign off on anything where a kid has the potential for getting hurt,” Andrews says, adding that current rules don’t require those pull-ins. - Eliminating landlocked parcels through connectivity.
Many of his most-watched YouTube videos, he notes, are about landlocked land—parcels without public road access. When a subdivision is approved next to such tracts, Andrews pushes for developers to stub out roads and provide access rights, solving old problems instead of creating new ones. “No one intentionally landlocked themselves,” he says. “It just happened. When we have that opportunity, we need to clear these things up now.”
These concerns might sound technical, but Eric believes that they shape the lived reality of growth:
- Whether a child waits for the bus on a rural shoulder or on a quiet side street.
- Whether a farmer’s back pasture someday has a legal route to become family housing, instead of a legal headache.
They also illustrate a broader point about the Chatham County Planning Board that Andrews emphasizes: it is diverse in background and opinion, but members come prepared and share a deep attachment to the community.
“We all have our little pet projects and issues that we feel passionate about,” he says. “We don’t always agree on everything, but we all get along and respect one another.”
A Bright Yet Cautious Future
Chatham County stands at a crossroads, with major developments poised to shape its future. While projects like Toyota’s expansion and Chatham Park offer exciting opportunities for growth, challenges such as traffic congestion and the need for affordable housing cannot be overlooked.
In the middle of all of it is a Chatham County real estate market that is:
- Expensive by North Carolina standards.
- Increasingly bifurcated between master-planned communities and older rural housing.
- Struggling to provide workforce housing for teachers, sheriff’s deputies, service workers and young families.
The decisions that local leaders, developers and residents make in the next few years—about density, infrastructure, school siting, and how to respond to SB 382—will determine whether Chatham becomes:
- A balanced community with a healthy mix of incomes, housing types and job centers, or
- A high-end suburban enclave where megaproject jobs and Disney-branded homes exist alongside pockets of growing displacement.
Eric Andrews, for his part, believes collaboration is still Chatham’s secret weapon. He praises Pittsboro’s town hall staff, the planning board’s diligence, and residents who show up in person to voice their concerns rather than just signing petitions.
For buyers and sellers, the takeaway at year’s end is this:
- Expect continued attention on Chatham County from investors and national brands.
- Watch carefully how VinFast, Wolfspeed and Toyota play out—and what that means for commuting patterns and local jobs.
- Pay attention to zoning and UDO debates, because they will shape not only what can be built, but also what kind of neighborhoods Chatham offers in 2035 and 2045.
Chatham County has entered a new era where local decisions are made under the shadow of billion-dollar headlines and statewide legislation. The county cannot go back to being a quiet rural afterthought—but it still has time to decide what kind of boomtown it wants to become.
Watch on YouTube – 2025 year end Chatham County Real Estate Market Update (part 3) – 12.23.25
00:16 Chatham County’s growth driven by major projects like Toyota.
- Toyota’s expansion positively impacts land prices and the local economy in Siler City.
- Local pride and community cohesion in Silk Hope are strengthened by the presence of major employers.
02:57 Potential developments in Chatham County’s real estate amidst uncertainty.
- Wolfspeed’s future remains unclear, but the site has substantial square footage and potential for new ventures.
- VinFast is unlikely to meet its deadlines, but the land could attract new investors due to its favorable location and incentives.
05:29 Chatham Park’s development is driving real estate interest and traffic.
- The Mosaic area is seeing increased traffic, signaling growth and opportunity.
- A local development group is expanding with mixed-use plans near Hardies, reflecting strong investment in the area.
07:50 Pittsboro aims for balanced growth while preserving town character.
- New projects are designed to comply with height restrictions, ensuring no buildings exceed the courthouse’s height.
- Local cooperation between developers and town officials fosters a supportive environment for community projects.
10:21 Chatham County anticipates growth, requiring more schools and housing options.
- Rising traffic congestion is evident, particularly during peak hours, indicating increased population and commuting patterns.
- Affordable housing remains a critical issue, necessitating changes in zoning to allow higher density developments and auxiliary dwellings.
12:46 Water service challenges impact development in Chatham County.
- Developers face high costs, like $2 million for looping water lines to ensure quality.
- The Planning Board prioritizes citizen concerns to manage development effectively.
15:12 Importance of public access in Chatham County zoning decisions.
- Developers should ensure subdivisions provide access to public roads to avoid landlocked situations.
- Planning board members advocate for specific issues, like safety concerns regarding school bus stops on highways.
17:45 Community concerns and SB 382’s impact on property zoning and value.
- Citizens express varied opinions but show respect for community and leadership amid zoning challenges.
- SB 382 prevents downzoning, affecting property values and development potential, limiting landowners’ options.
20:44 Chatham County’s planning processes are stalled, causing compliance issues.
- The county faces high costs to restart planning efforts and adhere to SB382 compliance.
- A subcommittee, including community input, spent considerable time on a proposal now suspended, affecting municipalities statewide.