HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda 03-17-2026; 6-b - Solicitation of Offers – 6823 Millhouse Road 1
ORANGE COUNTY
BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT
Meeting Date: March 17, 2026
Action Agenda
Item No. 6-b
SUBJECT: Solicitation of Offers — 6823 Millhouse Road
DEPARTMENT: County Manager, County
Attorney, Environment,
Agriculture, Parks & Recreation
(DEAPR)
ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT:
Draft Solicitation of Offers Document Travis Myren, 919-245-2300
Map of Property for Potential Sale John Roberts, 919-245-2318
Natural Resources Map David Stancil, 919-245-2522
PURPOSE: To review and authorize a "Solicitation of Offers for Purchase of Real Property for
Public Purpose Use, 6823 Millhouse Road."
BACKGROUND: At the Board's November 11, 2025 work session, staff presented information
concerning options for the potential sale of approximately 45 acres of land at 6823 Millhouse Road
for the purpose of facilitating a non-profit owned and operated field complex that would include
both private and public field play use. This property has previously been referred to as part of the
Future Millhouse Road Park and was listed in previous County Capital Investment Plans as such.
As shown on the overall site map, the total property is 79 acres, with approximately 34 acres to
the western and southwestern areas of the site containing natural resource constraints, a Natural
Heritage site adjoining Duke Forest, and topographic changes not suitable for a field complex.
The Board reviewed this part of the property at the November 11, 2025 work session and
determined that only the 45 acres shown on the map of available area should be included in the
area for sale. The remaining 34 acres of natural resource land may be retained or conveyed to a
conservation partner, pending further discussions.
Under the North Carolina General Statutes (NCGS), sale of property to a non-profit organization
for a public purpose is authorized under NCGS 160A-279(a) and 160A-267.
At the November 11, 2025 work session, the Board authorized the Manager, Attorney and staff to
develop a document to solicit proposals for purchase by a non-profit organization, under the public
purpose provisions above, to develop a multi-field complex for soccer and/or other similar field
sports, with certain conditions attached:
2
• The fields complex will be managed and operated so as to allow both private usage
coordinated by the non-profit owner as well as usage for public recreational play, including
tournaments and other special events;
• The non-profit owner will enter into a Memorandum of Agreement concurrent with the sale
of the property regarding the property, expectations of use and other conditions; and
• A deed restriction that reverts the land to County ownership if the conditions of usage are
not met will be included in the deed of sale;
Pending Board discussion, the attached Solicitation of Offers could be published on or around
March 26, 2026, and proposals (with purchase offers) from qualifying non-profit organizations
could be submitted by April 24, 2026. Once proposals are received, relevant information on the
proposals will be prepared and presented to the Board to consider terms of a contract to sell and
determine a recommended purchaser. Once this is completed, a contract and deed of sale, along
with a Memorandum of Agreement between the parties as outlined above, would be prepared for
the Board's consideration.
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The Solicitation of Offers document would result in offers to purchase the
property in question, which if conveyed would generate revenue for the County. Expected
tournaments and special events at the facility would also generate economic impact for the
community. While 45 acres of the site is listed as available for purchase, it should be noted that
the Solicitation of Offers also provides for a lesser amount of land to be purchased, as some
prospective buyers may propose buying a smaller area.
Offer amounts received may be adjusted by prospective buyers, based on the conditions of sale
as noted above and in the Solicitation of Offers document.
ALIGNMENT WITH STRATEGIC PLAN: This item supports:
• GOAL 2: HEALTHY COMMUNITY
OBJECTIVE 7. Invest in services and programs that improve the health and quality of life
of the community (e.g., recreation and public open spaces, arts, etc.)
• GOAL 7: DIVERSE AND VIBRANT ECONOMY
OBJECTIVE 1. Provide family-oriented and inclusive programming or other cultural events
for residents and visitors.
RECOMMENDATION(S): The Manager recommends that the Board review the attached
document and, after providing any direction or feedback, authorize staff to issue and publish the
Solicitation document, receive proposals and offers, and negotiate terms of a potential sale under
the conditions and provisions of the Solicitation of Offers and the statutory parameters provided
above.
3
AdWp-
ORANGE COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA
Orange County Government
Solicitation of Offers for
Purchase of Real Property for Public Purpose Use
6823 Millhouse Road
45 acres +/- as shown on Attachment A
Date of Issue: March 26, 2026
Offer Proposals Due Date:
April 24, 2026
5:00 p.m. ET
Direct all inquiries concerning this Solicitation to:
David Stancil
Director of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation
Email: dstancil(a-)-orangecountync.gov
1
4
Electronic responses ONLY will be accepted for this solicitation.
1. PURPOSE AND BACKGROUND
Orange County, North Carolina is entertaining proposals for the purchase of approximately 45 acres of land
at 6823 Millhouse Road, Chapel Hill NC 27516, as shown on the map at Attachment A.
The purchase of said land is conditioned as a sale for a public purpose as provided in NCGS 160A-279
and specifically as follows:
• Sale to a non-profit entity for the construction of a recreational playing field facility for
private and public usage
Orange County is releasing this solicitation seeking responses from qualified non-profit 501 (c) 3 entities
with knowledge and expertise in building, operating and maintaining recreational playing field complexes.
The County will consider selling the land in question as identified in Attachment A for this purpose, with
conditions to be spelled out in a future Memorandum of Agreement and deed restrictions to govern the
usage of the property for the stated public purpose. Note: If, after sale, the property is found to not be
in compliance with the designated use(s), or the conditions of sale are not adhered to, the property
shall by deed revert back to Orange County ownership.
Proposals shall be submitted in accordance with the terms and conditions of this RFP and any addenda
issued hereto.
2.0 GENERAL INFORMATION
2.1 OFFER PROPOSAL DOCUMENT
The Offer Proposal is comprised of the base proposal document, any attachments, and any addenda
released before a Contract award. All attachments and addenda released for this solicitation in advance of
any Contract award are incorporated herein by reference.
2.2 NOTICE TO PROSPECTIVE BUYERS REGARDING TERMS AND CONDITIONS
It shall be the prospective buyer's responsibility to read the Instructions, Orange County's terms and
conditions, all relevant exhibits and attachments, and any other components made a part of this Solicitation
and comply with all requirements and specifications herein. Prospective buyers also are responsible for
obtaining and complying with all Addenda and other changes that may be issued in connection with this
Solicitation.
If prospective buyers have questions, issues, or exceptions regarding any term, condition, or other
component within this Solicitation,those must be submitted as questions in accordance with the instructions
in Section 2.4 PROPOSAL QUESTIONS. If Orange County determines that any changes will be made as
a result of the questions asked, then such decisions will be communicated in the form of a Solicitation
addendum.
2
5
2.3 SOLICITATION OF OFFERS - SCHEDULE
The table below shows the intended schedule for this RFP. Orange County will make every effort to adhere
to this schedule.
Event Responsibility Date and Time
Issue RFP OC March 26, 2026
Hold Pre-Proposal Meeting/Site Visit OC April 7, 2026 at 2:00 pm EST
Submit Written Questions Prospective Buyer April 13, 2026
Provide Response to Questions OC April 20, 2026
Submit Proposals Prospective Buyer April 24, 2026, at 2:00 pm EST
Selection of Proposal OC TBD
Negotiations and Due Diligence (Buyer) OC and Buyer TBD
Contract of Sale and Effective Date OC TBD
Property Closing OC and Buyer TBD
Non-Mandatory Recommended Site Visit Conference (Highly Recommended)
Date: April 7, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM Eastern Time
Contact#: 919-245-2510
Instructions: Interested parties planning to submit a proposal for purchase are urged to attend this site
visit. The site visit will take place at the above listed time at 6823 Millhouse Road, Chapel Hill NC
27516.
Prospective buyers are cautioned that any information released to attendees during the site visit, other than
that involving the physical aspects of the facility referenced above, and which conflicts with, supersedes, or
adds to requirements in this Solicitation of Offers, must be confirmed by written addendum before it can be
considered to be a part of this proposal.
2.4 PROPOSAL QUESTIONS
Upon review of the documents herein, prospective parties may have questions to clarify or interpret the
solicitation in order to submit the best proposal possible.To accommodate the Proposal Questions process,
prospective parties shall submit any such questions by the above due date.
Written questions shall be emailed to dstancil(C)orangecountync.gov by the date and time specified above.
Prospective buyers should enter "Solicitation of Offers, 6823 Millhouse Road: Questions" as the
subject for the email. Questions submittals should include a reference to the applicable solicitation section.
Questions received by the deadline date, Orange County's response, and any additional terms deemed
necessary by the Orange County will be posted in the form of an addendum to Orange County website
www.orangecountync.gov and shall become an Addendum to this RFP. No information, instruction or
advice provided orally or informally by any Orange County personnel, whether made in response to a
question or otherwise in connection with this Solicitation shall be considered authoritative or binding.
Prospective buyers shall rely only on written material contained in an Addendum to this Solicitation.
3
6
2.5 PROPOSAL SUBMITTAL
IMPORTANT NOTE: This is an absolute requirement. Prospective buyers shall bear the risk for late
submission due to unintended or unanticipated delay. Any proposal submitted after the proposal deadline
will be rejected.
Prospective buyers should enter "Solicitation of Offers, 6823 Millhouse Road" as the subject for the
email. One Electronic (PDF Format) submittal should be less than 15MB in size and submitted by 2:00
p.m. EST on April 24, 2026. Electronic submittals shall be emailed to David Stancil, DEAPR Director, at
dstancil(c�orangecountync.gov by the date specified above.
Please note the existence of Attachment A to this RFP, which shows the potential land available for
purchase under this proposal.
Critical updated information may be included in Addenda to this solicitation. It is important that all
prospective buyers submitting a proposal periodically check the Orange County's website
https://www.orangecountync.gov for any Addenda that may be issued prior to the submittal date. All
prospective buyers shall be deemed to have read and understood all information in this Solicitation and all
Addenda thereto.
2.6 PROPOSAL CONTENTS
Prospective buyers shall populate all attachments of this Solicitation that require the prospective buyer to
provide information and include an authorized signature where requested. Responses shall include the
following items and those attachments should be arranged in the following order:
a) Cover Letter(Identify Project Manager)
b) Title Page: Include the non-profit organization name and Federal ID number.
c) A proposed offer to purchase with dollar amount.
d) A written narrative response to address the Conditions of Sale and Use in Section 5, and the proposed
plans for the property with project timetable.
e) A written narrative response to address the manner in which the applicant meets the Conditions for
Prospective Buyers in Section 1 herein.
f) Prospective buyer Experience and Qualifications with the facility expectations in the Conditions
g) Acknowledgement of receipt of any addenda.
h) Completed and notarized E-Verify form.
3.0 METHOD OF AWARD AND PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS
3.1 METHOD OF AWARD
All qualified proposals will be evaluated, and notification of selection will be made to the Prospective Buyers
meeting the Solicitation requirements and achieving the highest and best final evaluation, based on the
criteria described below.
While the intent of this Solicitation is to select a single Prospective Buyer, Orange County reserves the right
to make separate awards to different Prospective Buyers, to not select one or more buyers, or to cancel
4
7
this Solicitation in its entirety without selecting a Buyer, if it is considered to be most advantageous to the
County to do so.
Orange County reserves the right to waive any minor informality or technicality in proposals received.
3.2 OFFER PROPOSAL EVALUATION PROCESS
Orange County shall review all Prospective Buyer responses to this Solicitation to confirm that they meet
the specifications and requirements.
Proposals will be received from each responsive Prospective Buyer according to the method of submission
specified in Section 2.5 of this Solicitation.
All proposals must be received by Orange County not later than the date and time specified on the cover
sheet of this Solicitation.
At their option, the evaluators may request oral presentations or discussions with any or all Prospective
Buyers for clarification,or to amplify the materials presented in any part of the proposal. Prospective Buyers
are cautioned, however,that the evaluators are not required to request presentations or other clarification—
and often do not. Therefore,all proposals should be complete and reflect the most favorable terms available
from the Prospective Buyers.
Proposals will generally be evaluated according to completeness, content, and experience with similar
projects, ability of the Prospective Buyer and its staff, and cost. Specific evaluation criteria are listed in 3.4
EVALUATION CRITERIA, below.
Prospective Buyers are cautioned that this is a request for offers, not an offer or request to contract or
acceptance and agreement to sell or lease, and Orange County reserves the unqualified right to reject any
and all offers at any time if such rejection is deemed to be in the best interest of the County. The intent of
this request for offers is to find the best proposal for the property and potentially to begin negotiations with
the Prospective Buyer submitting the best proposal.
Upon completion of the evaluation process, the County will make a selection based on the evaluation
criteria. The County will then enter negotiation for private sale with the selected entity pursuant to NCGS
160A-279.
3.3 EVALUATION CRITERIA
All qualified proposals will be evaluated, and award made based on considering the following criteria, to
result in an award most advantageous to Orange County:
Criteria Maximum
Point Value
1. Prospective Buyer experience with the scope of services and conditions of the 20
Solicitation
2. Understanding and degree to which proposal meets outlined conditions. 20
3. Project Organization 15
4. Prospective Buyer demonstrated capacity to create the proposed facilities 25
5. Degree to which the Prospective Buyer demonstrates local service and benefit 20
Total 100
5
8
4.0 REQUIREMENTS
4.1 PROSPECTIVE BUYER EXPERIENCE
In its Proposal, Prospective Buyers shall demonstrate experience with the expressed purpose for the site
and the operation and management of athletic field facilities with similar or greater size and complexity to
Orange County's site.
4.2 REFERENCES
Prospective buyers shall provide at least three (3) references for which your organization or company has
provided facilities of similar size and scope to that proposed herein. Orange County may contact these
users to determine Prospective Buyer's prior performance. The information obtained may be considered in
the evaluation of the proposal.
COMPANY NAME CONTACT NAME TELEPHONE NUMBER
5.0 SCOPE OF SERVICES
Prospective buyers shall be a registered 501 c3 non-profit organization, and must stipulate to build, manage
and operate a facility of the following basis upon purchase of the property:
• The construction, operation and management of a soccer (and other similar sized)
recreational playing field facility for private and public usage. Buyer agrees to operate
facility under this stipulation, and that facility will be available for private and public usage
to be further specified in a Memorandum of Agreement to be developed with the selected
Prospective Buyer.
• If at any time the buyer does not meet the stipulated and conditional uses of the property
stated herein and above, or in subsequent conditions created as part of the sale, ownership
of the property shall revert to Orange County.
• Proposal shall address plans to perform and undertake proper maintenance and
management of the facility using sustainable field management and landscaping principles.
A map of the land to be considered for sale may be found in Appendix A. Prospective Buyers may submit
proposals and purchase offers for all or a portion of the designated site.
6
9
5.1 TASKS/DELIVERABLES
Please see Appendix A for a map of the site to be considered for sale.
Successful proposals should include the items referenced in this solicitation, including:
• A proposed purchase price offer for the property,
• A conceptual plan showing projected uses of the property consistent with the conditions and
specifications included herein,
• An outline of general management principles for the facility, including how public access to the
property will be addressed,
• Other information relevant to the conditions and specifications for use of the property contained
herein.
A plan for the services described above in Section 5.0 at each location should be part of the proposal.
Additional Information:
1) Orange County's Strategic Plan and ordinances encourage the use of sustainable landscaping and
the use of native vegetation. The successful Prospective Buyer should adhere to and show proof
of sustainable landscaping principles in its proposal. If the contractor notes areas of invasive
species on properties being maintained, they should contact the County liaison and a procedure
for removal will be identified.
2) On occasion, it is anticipated that the successful buyer and/or County may identify special events
or activities needed. These may include tournaments and similar activities that may use the site as
part of a larger event over multiple sites. These details will be addressed in the subsequent
Memorandum of Agreement between the County and the successful Prospective Buyer.
5.2 PROJECT ORGANIZATION
Prospective Buyers shall describe the organizational and operational structure it proposes to utilize for the
planned facility outlines in the proposal, and identify the responsibilities to be assigned to each organization
or group proposed to handle the work.
5.3 NORTH CAROLINA PUBLIC RECORDS
All proposals received by Orange County shall be considered public information subject to lawful disclosure
under North Carolina Public Records Law.
5.4 BUSINESS REGISTRATION
The firm selected under this RFP will be required to have an active business registration with the North
Carolina Secretary of State.
7
Millhouse Road Tract- Area for Potential Sale in
NnF,1 i7H
13RU1N TRL
.s f k fir :.p 7'.�.�`•. .�
di
r I4 F
_ � F
Duke Forest V'Y
N
0 0.04 0.09 0.17 Miles Tract Name: Millhouse Road Tract
Legend < l > > I
ORANGE COUNTY Landowner: Orange County
Streets Lat: 35' 58.69"
Streams Long: -79' 04.86"
Date: 2/27/2026
Q Tax Parcel Created By: Christian Hirni
Duke Forest Department of Environment, Image: 2021 Aerial Imagery
�Available
Agriculture,Parks&Recreation Acres: 78.7 (-47 available)
Millhouse Road Park- Natural Resources Map 11
F, a
J } z0 �S
BRUIN TRL�
1T ,J
0
o
d
Tract Information: 0 140 280 560 840 1,120 Feet
Legend
Landowner: Orange County ORANGE COUNTY Roads
Lat: 35' 58.69"
Long: 79' 04.86" ® Natural Areas
Date: 04/11/2025
Streams
Image: 2021 Aerial Photos
Created By: Christian Hirni Natural Heritage Areas
Acres: —78.7 County Open Space
Sensitive Natural Department of Environment,
Resources: -30 acs 0 Open Space-Other
Agriculture, Parks&Recreation
Tax Parcels