Spotlight On: Jess Anderson, Mayor, Town of Chapel Hill

Key points:

• • Chapel Hill is attracting startups and new headquarters while building a stronger innovation ecosystem with UNC.
• • The town is advancing housing, transit, and zoning reforms to support affordable, connected growth.
• • Leaders are focused on balancing economic expansion with the quality of life that defines Chapel Hill.

June 2026 —Invest: spoke with Jess Anderson, mayor of the Town of Chapel Hill, about how the community is planning for growth while preserving quality of life and economic resilience. “Rather than reacting to growth, we are being proactive and intentional about building a complete community — one where housing, transportation, economic opportunity, and quality of life all work together,” Anderson said.

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What have been some of the most impactful developments or trends you’ve seen over the past year, and how are they shaping your agenda as mayor?

Over the past year, we’ve continued to make meaningful progress toward long-term, sustainable growth, even amid broader economic uncertainty. For several years now, the Town of Chapel Hill has been intentional about strengthening and diversifying our commercial tax base so we can be more resilient in the future, and 2025 has shown strong momentum in that effort.

A clear example of that progress can be seen in downtown Chapel Hill, particularly through our partnership with the university. Historically, many startups connected to UNC left Chapel Hill as they scaled because we lacked the space and ecosystem to support their continued growth. One of our priorities is creating an environment where those companies can start, grow, and remain here.

We’ve been working closely together to foster a healthier, more vibrant, year-round economy. In the fall of 2023, Innovate Carolina moved into The Junction, our innovation hub located in the heart of downtown. Around the same time, the town completed a new parking deck, which was a critical infrastructure investment designed to support employees in that space and unlock additional infill development downtown.

Those investments were paired with a strong focus on transit, biking, and walking infrastructure to reduce the need for people to drive when they’re coming to work, school, medical appointments, or social activities. What we’re seeing now is that the payoff from that coordinated approach has been strong. The Junction has become an active and dynamic center of activity. It’s home to Launch Chapel Hill, our award-winning business accelerator, along with offices for partners such as Durham Tech. On the ground floor, Meantime Coffee has become a thriving third space that contributes to downtown’s daily energy and brings together people of all ages.

Ultimately, the goal is to build a robust innovation district that allows us to retain startups and talent. With UNC right here, we want to capture that entrepreneurial energy and ensure companies don’t leave Chapel Hill as they grow beyond campus-based spaces. We’re already seeing tangible results, including companies moving from university-affiliated programs into permanent headquarters downtown. We’ve also launched a new partnership with KPMG to take Launch Chapel Hill to the next level through an AI-enabled, next-generation accelerator, with multiple cohorts already underway.

Recently, we’ve landed three high-profile headquarters in downtown over the past two years: IotaComm (June 2025), EATS2SEATS (March 2026), and Blue Sky Robotics (May 2026). 

As you look ahead, what key industries or business types are you hoping to attract and retain in Chapel Hill?

We have a strong interest in capturing innovation tied to healthcare, life sciences, and technology. We’re fortunate to have a world-class healthcare system and a deep research environment, which creates significant opportunities in biotech, pharma, and related fields. We also benefit from a strong and steady talent pipeline from UNC and other research institutions.”

At the same time, we’re intentionally thinking more broadly and inclusively about the types of businesses we want to attract and support. Innovation isn’t limited to high-tech startups. If someone wants to open a local retail or food business and build something successful, we want them to feel supported by the town and by our broader ecosystem. We want those businesses to benefit from the energy generated by more traditional startups, while recognizing that entrepreneurship takes many forms.

We also care deeply about ensuring that the diversity of our community is reflected in who owns and operates businesses here. We’ve partnered with the Chamber of Commerce to support a full-time position focused on assisting women-owned businesses, businesses owned by people of color, and other entrepreneurs. Our vision is that innovation is for everyone and that Chapel Hill can be innovative across both emerging and traditional sectors.

Housing affordability is a concern nationwide. How is Chapel Hill aligning planning, zoning, and transit to support young professionals and middle-income residents?

In Chapel Hill, we recognize that addressing affordability requires more than simply building housing. If we want young professionals, healthcare workers, educators, entrepreneurs, and middle-income families to build their futures here, we have to make it possible for them to live here. 

At the core of our work is our Complete Community framework, which serves as a guide for how we plan to grow. That framework integrates housing affordability and choice, mobility and connectivity, parks and green spaces, environmental sustainability, economic competitiveness, and community resilience.

One of the most significant efforts underway is a comprehensive rewrite of our land-use regulations. This work has been essential, as outdated regulations were preventing us from achieving the outcomes we want. We’re aligning our policies to support denser housing, greater housing diversity, and workforce housing, while directing growth to align with existing and planned transit and greenway infrastructure.

Chapel Hill also benefits from having the largest fare-free transit system in the nation, which already provides strong local and regional mobility options. Building on that foundation, we’re nearing completion of the design phase for a future bus rapid transit line with stops downtown, near the medical campus, and at other mixed-use hubs. From there, people can get to where they’re going, reach other local and regional routes, and access a broad greenway network. This supports a 15-minute city concept, where residents can walk, bike, or take transit to the major activities of daily life.

Equally important has been a cultural shift in how we approach growth. Rather than reacting to growth, we are being proactive and intentional about building a complete community, one where housing, transportation, economic opportunity, and quality of life all work together. Developers consistently tell us they want predictability, clarity, and an efficient process. Our role is to provide that clarity, remove unnecessary roadblocks, and clearly articulate what we want to see.

As a result, we’re not just seeing more development activity, but more of the right kind of development. We’re getting denser projects, a wider variety of housing types, and smaller units that align with how people want to live today. We’ve set a goal of approving approximately 500 new housing units per year and have surpassed that target in recent years, demonstrating that our planning efforts are yielding real outcomes.

For those less familiar with the region, what makes Chapel Hill and the broader Triangle an attractive place to live and do business?

The Triangle is a great place to work and a great place to live. North Carolina consistently ranks at the top for economic development, and our region plays a major role in that success. We offer a strong combination of opportunity, affordability, and quality of life.

Compared to other dynamic metro areas, we remain relatively affordable and easier to navigate. There’s a strong sense of community here, and people genuinely take care of one another. We also have a clear set of core values that guide how we grow and who we are as a place.

We’re fortunate to have world-class medical systems, major universities that attract talent from around the globe, and a vibrant cultural and food scene. At the same time, we’re investing in the future through sustainable infrastructure, transit, and environmental stewardship. When you put all of those elements together, the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

Are there any additional priorities or accomplishments you would like to highlight?

Our partnership with UNC Chapel Hill is a critical strength. As the nation’s first public university, UNC brings tremendous talent, research, and innovation to our community. We work hard to maximize that partnership while also ensuring that Chapel Hill remains more than just a university town.

Beyond downtown, we’re seeing new business activity across the community. We’ve also been tested by challenges, including severe storms that affected commercial areas. In response, the town acted quickly to support impacted businesses and help them reopen as fast as possible, recognizing how critical speed is for small businesses.

That experience reinforced our resilience and our commitment to supporting the local economy. It reflects how much we value our business community and how intentionally we are positioning Chapel Hill for long-term success.

Want more? Read the Invest: Raleigh-Durham report.