As the weather in Chapel Hill is warming up, a new ice cream option is about to be available for those looking to cool off. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams — a popular national chain — will hold a soft opening for its location at University Place mall on Thursday. The spot at 223 South Estes Drive becomes the third Jeni’s location in the Triangle, following the Village District Shopping Center spot in Raleigh and the Brightleaf Square location in Durham. The opening is a significant piece of University Place’s redevelopment and new vision, as Jeni’s is in a building constructed in the former footprint of the Southern Season store demolished at the Chapel Hill mall in March 2023. The ice cream shop will be one of two businesses that anchor a public green space that runs alongside new traffic connections to either side of the mall property and will be flanked by seven new store fronts built out from the existing, central mall building. Jeni’s will also mark the second new business opening ...