Imagine A Place: Durham Development Round-Up

Erwin Oil Redevelopment – 701 Washington Street

Ram Realty’s mixed-use development on the former Erwin Oil Store site, spanning 5.24 acres, is expected to bring 310 residential units and 7,791 square-feet retail across two buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge. The first building is six stories and will envelop 223 units and two ground floor retail spaces, while the second will be five stories, containing 77 units and one ground floor of retail. An elaborate retail plaza and park deck will also be amenities for residents and visitors. The historic coal trestle will be salvaged and repurposed in amenity spaces if removed.

Aura 509 – 509 N. Mangum Street

Aura 509 is currently under construction, and completion is expected in 2023. The 182-unit development blends into the surrounding neighborhood with exterior characteristics of corrugated metal, corten steel, gray color tones, and window shroud detailing. Located in Central Park and the core of downtown Durham, the eight-story midrise apartment community will feature studio, one- and two-bedroom floor plans with thoughtful and community-centric amenities.

The Acadia – 5608 Crescent Drive

The Acadia, located in Durham, NC, features 82 one, two, and three-bedroom family units in a four-story, elevator-accessed building. The community serves residents with incomes ranging from 80% area median income or below. Community amenities include a multi-purpose room, resident computer center, exercise room, community laundry center, tenant storage areas, a playground, covered picnic area, and an outdoor sitting area with benches.

700 Hardee Street

Hardee Street family apartments will comprise 132 apartments in six residential buildings and are reserved for families at 60% and 30% of the area’s median income. The Hardee Street site is located in a predominantly residential area, immediately adjacent to three apartment communities–Sherwood Park, Oakley Square, and Naples Terrace–and a single-family residential neighborhood. Construction is expected to wrap up in Fall 2023.

Willard Street Apartments – 481 Willard Street

Willard Street Apartments is an 82-unit affordable housing community with 5,000 square feet of commercial space located next to Durham’s downtown transit station at the intersection of Jackson and Willard Streets. The four-story community, constructed atop a two-story parking podium, is North Carolina’s first transit-oriented affordable housing project. The complex has 39 one-bedroom and 43 two-bedroom units, with three-quarters set aside for those whose annual household incomes are 60 percent or below Durham’s average.

Resident amenities include an elevated plaza on the parking podium with a picnic shelter and playground, a fitness center, a business center, a community multipurpose room and kitchen, laundry facilities, and on-site management. Local Start Dental, a nonprofit organization providing dental services to low-income residents, is the project’s first commercial tenant. A 51-unit senior housing project is planned for Phase II on an adjacent parcel.

Partners on the project include DHIC and Self-Help, Duke University, Capitol Broadcasting, and AJ fletcher Foundation – who funded $2.5 million -and the City of Durham – who contributed $3.6 million. The project was also funded by Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) by The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, which equated to about $9 million towards the project. Willard Street Apartments was completed in 2021.

The development has been recognized for numerous design awards, including the 2022 North Carolina Housing Award from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, the 2022 Community Enhancement Champion Award from Triangle CREW, and the 2022 Space Award for Top Mixed-Use Development from the Triangle Business Journal.

Ashton Place Apartments

Ashton Place will provide 51 units serving seniors at or below 60% of the area median income and include one, and two-bedroom apartments. Located adjacent to the Durham Station Transportation Center and the recently completed Willard Street Apartments, Ashton Place is the second phase of DHIC’s affordable housing initiative on Willard Street. The city’s main senior center is just several blocks from the site and offers numerous programs and services for senior citizens. Completion is expected to deliver in 2023.

The Ramsey – 510 E. Pettigrew Street

The Ramsey, completed in August 2022, encompasses 240 units and 8,200 square feet of amenity space within five stories, with a 114,000-square-foot cast-in-place concrete parking garage. The Ramsey focuses on the resident’s needs, offering an abundance of courtyards for relaxation and zen. Along with multiple courtyards, amenities are abundant. They include an exquisite wine lounge with lockers in the community wine fridge for personal wine bottles, a relaxation room, a state-of-the-art fitness room, a spin room, an aqua lounge, and a designated guest suite for residents to reserve for visitors.

Located just steps away from the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the apartments at The Ramsey are redefining downtown by offering an escape from the city’s hustle and bustle within its walls.

In recent news: The Ramsey won a TBJ Space Award for Top Multifamily Development in January 2023.

Atlas Durham – 321 W. Corporation Street

Completed in February 2022, Atlas Durham is a 6-story mixed-use community featuring 171 units and 6,500 square feet of ground-floor retail. Atop a formerly used car lot on a 1-acre site at W. Corporation Street and Rigsbee Avenue, it is the Triangle’s first dedicated micro-studio apartment complex and North Carolina’s second overall. This privately funded project aimed to keep Durham’s affordable housing issues in mind by offering smaller high-end apartments in the city’s central core that are more reasonably priced and still give residents all the amenities they need. Available units include studios, one and two bedrooms, and an average unit layout of 500 square feet. Each unit fully maximizes its footprint by offering expandable Studio+ Ori pocket closets. Residents can enjoy a third-floor pool and sundeck, a top-floor sky deck with a chef kitchen, indoor bike storage, a secured parking garage, café, coworking spaces, a high-end fitness center, and easy access to DSSOLVR, the new brewery tenant located at street-level.

Foster on the Park – 545 Foster Street

Foster on the Park is a newly built mixed-use development adjacent to Durham Central Park, offering 162 units and 2,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The development has revitalized the urban infill site by partnering with the City of Durham and Durham Central Park Inc. to fund a new plaza at the park’s entrance and transforming a portion of Roney Street that runs through the park into a woonerf – or a living street – open to multiple modes of travel. The new concept slows traffic and creates more pedestrian-friendly space, opening a portion of the park that has been underutilized for years. Thoughtful place-making is elevated with local artist Taylor White’s custom mural alongside Foster on the Park’s building facing the public park. The mural combines organic forms with abstract elements to represent Durham as a forward-thinking, fun, and energetic community. The Glass Jug Beer Lab occupies Foster’s retail space. It offers a direct connection from the transformed park to its outdoor patio and seating, bringing more foot traffic to the area in addition to Durham’s Food Hall across the street.

Foster on the Park has studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom options and is NGBS Green Certified. On-site amenities include a rooftop terrace overlooking the city and park, resident library, yoga room, 24-hour fitness center, and resort-style saltwater pool and lounge equipped with grills and fire pits.