Once home to displaced families in Durham, can this Hayti site finally build wealth?

The 20-acre site on Durham’s Merrick Street will soon be a bustling new apartment complex, marking a new era for the historic Hayti neighborhood.

The former Fayette Place apartments were torn down two decades ago, leaving only concrete slabs and crumbling steps behind a chain-link fence. After the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) bought the land from the city, plans got underway to redevelop it.

On Monday, DHA announced the successful financial close of the future Villages of Hayti. The $90 million project comes as the city is seeing rising housing costs and renters paying more for apartments.

The news is bittersweet for some older residents in Hayti who remember Black families being displaced in the neighborhood by the construction of the Durham Freeway.

“We are excited just to see the dreams and knowing that dreams still do come true,” said Tanya Johnson, pastor of Trinity United Missionary Baptist Church and member of Durham CAN’s Strategy Team. The community organization fought for over a decade to see this land restored. “We see that as a win for everyone,” she said.

The Villages of Hayti will feature 252 affordable rental units for families earning 30% to 80% of the area median income. In Durham, 30% AMI is $23,850 for a one-person household or $33,950 for a household of four. Eighty percent is $64,800 for a one-person household and $92,480 for a household of four.

The announcement comes four months after the Durham City Council unanimously agreed to support DHA’s issuance of a $44 million tax-exempt bond to build the first phase of the project. While Phase 1 focuses on the 252 affordable apartments, future phases will have for-sale townhomes, creating a pathway for generational wealth through homeownership, a news release stated.

“Villages of Hayti represents more than just new buildings. It’s a commitment to what’s possible when development is rooted in collaboration and community empowerment,” said Bobvala Tengen, the director of Gilbane Development, one of DHA’s partners, in a statement.

More than just housing

The redeveloped site will feature nine garden-style buildings with 81 one-bedrooms, 113 two-bedrooms and 58 three-bedroom apartments.

Residents will have access to:

• A 4,000-square-foot community building with a computer center and an exercise room
• Outdoors amenities including a playground and a covered picnic pavilion
• Future commercial spaces to support local businesses

Ashanti Brown, the interim chief executive officer of DHA said the project is finally “delivering on a promise” to restore Hayti as a place of stability and belonging.

This community-driven vision also includes a grocery store. The area is considered a “food desert” with many residents having to travel outside the community to buy fresh groceries.

Why it matters

Henry McKoy, the director of Hayti Reborn, said community leaders have pushed for “wraparound services” and balanced neighborhoods that include affordable housing, daycares, and opportunities for economic development. He said the Villages of Hayti has long been a “reminder of the challenging history” of the area.

“At one point, all that space was homes and lives of people. It’s about time we see something,” he said. “I’m hopeful that there can be a much broader economic kind of growth in the community; ways that can create jobs so that people can have livable wages, that can create space so that young people can thrive and play.”

Of the 252 apartments, 26 units are designed for people with disabilities or those experiencing homelessness. Additionally, the project is a 100% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit development, which means it’s an affordable rental project financed through federal tax credits rather than direct subsidies.

Construction is expected to begin this year, with the first residents moving in next year.

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

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Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.