Durham’s downtown revitalization continues with two major demolitions
Efforts to revitalize downtown Durham are pushing ahead with two major demolitions now underway.
In recent days, crews began razing the former University Ford property at 601 Willard Street, paving way for the planned expansion of the American Tobacco Campus.
Capitol Broadcasting Company (CBC), which also owns WRAL and the Durham Bulls, bought the auto dealer’s 11-acre lot in 2016 for $28.8 million. It borders the west side of the historic district. Once an abandoned tobacco factory, CBC been repurposing the factory buildings into mixed-use since 2004.
Partnered with Texas-based development firm Hines, the extension project’s first phase involves developing eight acres with two of the first all-timber office towers in the Triangle, alongside a 14-story high-rise with 350 units. There will also be 90,000 square feet of retail space reserved for a possible movie theater/draft house, a grocery, other amenity shops and a restaurant.
A CBC spokesperson confirmed site work has started, and they’re actively leasing space. A timeline for the project’s completion is still unknown.
A few blocks north in the city’s urban center, crews are demolishing Liberty Street Public Housing Apartments, which were built in the late 1960s. The Durham Housing Authority (DHA) landed a $40 million federal grant earlier this year to redevelop the aging public housing and a nearby complex at 519 E. Main into a mixed-income community.
DHA and developer Laurel Street Residential plan to build 555 housing units on 14 acres bounded by Main, Liberty, Elizabeth and Dillard streets. The federal money will be supplemented by local dollars to cover the total cost of $186 million, the N&O reported in September.
The first phase is scheduled to break ground in February 2023, and involves turning the Liberty Street apartments into 72 units.
“[It] will serve households with incomes at 30%, 60% and 80% of the area median income and below,” Anthony C. Snell, DHA’s director of real estate development, told the N&O.
Residents are being relocated during the reconstruction, some temporarily and some to other DHA properties.
This story was originally published November 23, 2022 at 1:46 PM.
