Ten years after the Durham Police Department moved to its current headquarters on Court Square, the city has a concrete plan for the former police headquarters at 505 West Chapel Hill Street. A resident working group presented two development scenarios to City Council at a March 19 work session, both centered on 80 units of affordable housing targeting households earning at or below 60% of the area median income.
Council members favored the more expensive of the two options, which stacks five stories of housing above two floors of structured parking. The parking requirement comes from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, which finances the project through federal 9% Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. The city itself eliminated parking minimums years ago.
- The preferred layout leaves enough land for a potential second phase of 55 additional units, bringing the site's total possible capacity to 135 affordable units.
- Both scenarios would be financed through a long-term ground lease at nominal cost rather than an outright land sale, keeping the city's ownership intact while reducing developer costs.
- To hit a January tax credit application deadline, the working group pushed council to select a developer with a Durham track record by July, bypassing a formal RFP process. "We are concerned that if you did some sort of formal RFP or RFQ process, you wouldn't have sufficient time," said Gregg Warren, former president of DHIC.
- Separately, council is weighing whether to sell the original headquarters building, designed by modernist architect Milton Small, to Preservation North Carolina. Rehabilitation is estimated at $25 to $30 million.
Missing the July developer selection deadline likely means waiting another year for the next tax credit cycle.