Now that the owners of Chatham Park have cleared an important first hurdle with master plan and zoning approval from Pittsboro's town board, what's next for this 7,120-acre project that could increase the town's population 15-fold?

Lots, according to development partners Tim Smith and Bubba Rawl; but not the residential kind, at least not for a little while longer.

UNC Hospitals is expected to be the first tenant to begin construction at Chatham Park. The Chapel Hill-based hospital system will be building a 25,000-square-foot medical office building at the intersection of U.S. 64 Bypass and U.S. 15-501 with construction set to begin in August. UNC Hospitals has also expressed interest in expanding with a "major" facility at Chatham Park in the future.

Chatham Park developers will also soon begin work on a $90 million, 20-megawatt solar farm in partnership with Strata Solar of Chapel Hill.

The master plan for Chatham Park splits its territory on the north and east sides of Pittsboro into five small area plans that will be built out in phases over the next several decades.

How fast that happens will depend on how fast people and businesses want to move there.

Chatham Park is projected to have space for 22,000 new housing units, or enough room for about 60,000 new residents for Pittsboro, as well as nearly 2,000 acres of parks and open spaces and 22 million square feet of commercial buildings. Pittsboro has a current population of about 3,800 people.

Preston Development Co. of Cary, the primary developer of Chatham Park, will be responsible for much of the more than $1 billion in water, sewer, roads and other infrastructure that will be needed to service the community over its lifespan.

Amanda Jones Hoyle covers commercial and residential real estate. Follow her on Twitter @TBJrealestate