Nearly 850 apartments greenlit in Durham. Here’s where the city is growing.
Developers got permission to build over 800 new apartments on land newly annexed into the Durham city limits Monday night.
The City Council approved the two annexation and rezoning requests without any public opposition. The properties are on opposite sides of the county, one near Research Triangle Park and the other just outside of Chapel Hill.
The first property is located at 5802 S. Miami Blvd.
- 432 apartments
- 3.5% (15 apartments) will be rented at affordable rates to those making 60% of the area median income. This promise lasts 10 years.
- Developed by H.M. Partners, based in Raleigh.
Jamie Schwedler, attorney for the developer, said the 11-acre property presented an excellent opportunity for infill development.
“It’s in close proximity to plenty of shopping, jobs, offices, and the regional transit center,” she said, adding that it is also close to RTP and the airport.
The Planning Commission had recommended the annexation 6-3, though since that hearing a year ago, the developer shrank the apartment count by 20% to preserve more trees and comply with recently upgraded environmental standards.
It passed 6-1 Monday night, with City Council member DeDreana Freeman voting against it in part because of what she called a “laughable” contribution to the city’s affordable-housing stock.
Farrington Road will see major development in coming decades
The other property is at 5304 Farrington Road, just south of a condo development in an otherwise rural residential stretch of Durham County near Chapel Hill that is set to grow dramatically in the coming decades.
- 415 multifamily units. Some could be townhomes.
- 5% (21 units) will be rented at affordable rates to those making 80% AMI. This promise lasts 30 years.
- Developed by Northwood Ravin, which has corporate offices in Charlotte and Morrisville.
It is being built on 19.5 acres after a unanimous vote Monday night.
The developer’s attorney Nil Ghosh said all the units will be rentals.
