Durham pauses major redevelopment for former police HQ, moves toward preservation
For seven years, the old Durham police headquarters on West Chapel Hill Street has sat empty.
On Thursday, city staff and consultants HR&A Advisors recommended the city hold off on any major redevelopment a while longer.
Instead, they suggested focusing on two things: preserving the historic building and restoring life to the property with temporary uses.
After over two hours of discussion, City Council members agreed to enter negotiations with Preservation NC to rehabilitate the Milton Small Building, as the former headquarters building is called, and to explore options for “interim activation” of the property.
The 1950s-era building, originally the Home Security Life Insurance Building designed by modernist architect Milton Small, takes up less than a quarter of the 4-acre lot. It is structurally sound and historically significant.
But redevelopment won’t be cheap. Estimates put the cost at $25 million to $30 million for construction of market-rate housing, affordable housing, a hotel, or office space.
Thursday’s decision came six months after the city cut ties with the Peebles Corp., which wanted to redevelop the property but asked for additional city funding when projected construction costs rose.
“A lot of development [is] going to happen in this part of downtown,” Mayor Leo Williams said. “I think the worst type of buyer is an impulsive buyer, where you just buy it ... rather than having a little patience. I feel really confident that we have a responsibility to make this responsible decision.”
The staff recommendations
Mark Kubaczyk from HR&A Advisors laid out a three-part plan.
Sell the building to Preservation NC
To save the Milton Small Building, the city could negotiate an option-to-purchase agreement with Preservation NC, which would allow the nonprofit to evaluate developers, acquire the property from the city, and sell it to a preservation-minded developer.
Preservation NC has bought and resold dozens of historic properties, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of local investment, said regional director Cathleen Turner. Many of its projects have included affordable housing.
“What the attractive thing for developers is, is the certainty of being able to go through the expense and the time of due diligence [and know] that it will yield something at the end,” she said.
Create temporary park for short-term uses
For now the city could create a park on the site for concerts, food trucks, open space programs, art installations or temporary retail.
This would keep the property from deteriorating and bring people back to it while the city considers longer term projects, like affordable housing. This would cost between $500,000 and $2 million.
“This, I think ideally would reflect community oriented programming that reflects the needs of what community [members]have spoken and articulated,” Kubaczyk said.
Low-to-mid-scale affordable housing
In this scenario, the Milton Small Building would be rehabilitated and the rest of the site would be used for housing and parking.
A mock-up shows a five- or six-story affordable-housing building with 100 units. If the city waits, it might be able to work with a developer on up to 400 units serving a range of incomes.
Members of Durham Congregations, Associations and Neighborhoods urged the council Thursday to fast tack the 100 units.
“The need for affordable housing has continued to grow,” said Pastor Mick Raynor at Duke Memorial United Methodist Church, across the street from the property. He suggested the lot be used for “safe, clean, affordable housing” for Durham families.
Going with the affordable-housing option now, however could restrict future site redevelopment and require a city subsidy. The Peebles Corp. asked the city to contribute $40 million toward its affordable-housing plans.
The trade-off
Long term, the city could pursue several ideas once the market improves, like a mixed-use, commercial hub or a residential district with a retail anchor.
Those options would depend heavily on future economic conditions. The challenge is weighing the proposals and how they might affect the future use of the site.
Mayor Pro Tem Javiera Caballero said she gets the urgency of preserving the old building and the need for more housing but wants to keep discussing long-term plans.
“I really do want to stress whatever we do as activation of the space [that] this is really interim,” she said. “Two hundred affordable units is better than 100 even it means I got to wait a couple more years.”
Councilwoman Chelsea Cook argued the opposite and said building 100 affordable units now is better than waiting for more uncertainty.
“I understand it’s a tough trade-off,” she said. “We’ve got folks who are imminently facing homelessness right now.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2025 at 2:31 PM.