Blue Devil Partners West Village

[JDC]

Maybe Madison, WI. Boston's great for pedestrians too.

[JDC]

I am starting to think that Durham may have the most impressive (or at least interesting downtown in NC). Call me crazy.

I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but I agree it's pretty darn interesting. ATHD and West Village are like nothing I've ever seen before, and coupled with all the technology, I can see Durham becoming a more, let's say attractive, place to relocate a business. Add in a new performance center and more street-level attractions inside the loop and you've got yourself a pretty awesome city.

As for right now, I think Asheville's got the most impressive downtown in the state.

[DanRNC]

I do like Asheville's downtown but it seems more like a tourist destination. I don't think I would want to live there however on a long-term basis. There are aspects from Asheville that Durham could adopt but one thing Durham has in its favor is a legitimate economy (ie tech/biotech).

[JDC]

That's true. Just for kicks I checked out a few jobs pages and housing listings in the Asheville area. It's truly slim pickins in comparison to Durham (and the Triangle, naturally).

[DanRNC]

Yea, my fiance and I were up in Hot Springs last winter and stopped by downtown Asheville and wandered around for awhile. The town has pretty cool architecture and an artsy little downtown but I feel it really lacked something substantial.

[danclever]

Last I heard about this, the last step was getting a loan from HUD. Is that true; I can't access the Herald-Sun articles on it.

I hope they can start working on it this year.

[danclever]

This development will also include about 140,000 sq. feet of laboratory space. I believe Duke may consolidate some labs spread out through Durham in this space and use it as an spin-off business incubator facility. With this ATHD, and the NC Biotech Center at Venable, downtown Durham will start become a biotech/tech hub of its own.

Saw this in Saturday's Durham News.

http://www.thedurhamnews.com/business/stor...p-9393117c.html

Blue Devil Ventures are starting tours of Phases I & II of West Village.

[danclever]

Breaking ground on phase II, possibly next month!!

http://www.herald-sun.com/durham/4-747729.html

[DanRNC]

That is going to be an interesting area over there and will finally bridge the Brightleaf/downtown proper. Also, I didn't realize how close the back of the Liggett Meyers plant was to the ATHD. The 2nd phase of ATHD is also coming along nicely.

[danclever]

That is going to be an interesting area over there and will finally bridge the Brightleaf/downtown proper. Also, I didn't realize how close the back of the Liggett Meyers plant was to the ATHD. The 2nd phase of ATHD is also coming along nicely.

When finished, folks at the Brightleaf area will see a row of lights all the way up Main Street toward downtown. This is really exciting! What is now seen as a barrier will become a gateway.

Yeah, over at ATHD, the Lucky Strike Building is coming along nicely.

[raleightransplant]

Does anyone know if they've started on this?

[JDC]

I live close by and haven't heard or seen any construction outside. There may be some work going on inside the buildings though.

[danclever]

I live close by and haven't heard or seen any construction outside. There may be some work going on inside the buildings though.

In the past days I've noticed a bit of work going on inside of the Walker Building, which will house the new Amtrak station. I'd hoped to see scaffolding and cranes by now, but at least it's a start.

[raleightransplant]

^^

Thanks for the update. I was driving by today, and I'm excited about that whole area once this gets going. It should be really something.

[ChiefJoJo]

Not the kind of news anyone would hope for, but a construction worker was killed today on the site of the West Village Phase 2 project... so, um, yeah, phase II is under construction. FYI, it's number 21 on yfreemark's Durham map.

[BullCityFan]

Work on West Village Phase II is moving right along. It looks as if they are about to start construction of the new 7-story parking deck near Phase I. Nice rendering ChiefJoJo. I can't wait for this development to be finished it will really add alot of spice to the already popular Brightleaf District not to mention connecting that District with the rest of DT Durham.

[DanRNC]

I drove by there the other night and they have done a ton of demo-the loading bays look like they were all ripped out.

[Jones_]

An older version of the phase II proposal had the building in this rendering being torn down...it is the tallest one and was the latest one built circa 1950's....what exactly is it being used for when the project is complete..office or residential? Also what is the streetscape plan? I was wondering if the Brightleaf, BDV I and II, Downtown, ATHD string will be sufficiently connected visually and aesthetically. The industrial nature of Durham makes this a different challenge than in Raleigh I would think...the work in 5-points is looking good and I was wondering if there were further plans for City involvement in regards to street work...thanks!

[Bull City Rising]

An older version of the phase II proposal had the building in this rendering being torn down...it is the tallest one and was the latest one built circa 1950's....what exactly is it being used for when the project is complete..office or residential? Also what is the streetscape plan? I was wondering if the Brightleaf, BDV I and II, Downtown, ATHD string will be sufficiently connected visually and aesthetically. The industrial nature of Durham makes this a different challenge than in Raleigh I would think...the work in 5-points is looking good and I was wondering if there were further plans for City involvement in regards to street work...thanks!

Ahh, the Chesterfield building. :-) It's awesome inside -- I got a quick look around when the Georges Rousse exhibit was there. The old boardroom in there is awesome! No, there are no plans to tear it down. Interestingly, Tom Niemann (originally one of the core members of Blue Devil Ventures) and Brian Davis/Christian Laettner have apparently parted ways. Niemann is developing the Chesterfield and Davis/Laettner, now as "Blue Devil Partners," the remainder of West Village II. The city agreed to fund the streetscape improvements and work in the WV area. Probably the last major public downtown investment for some time, but the pump seems "primed" and ready to go now for increased private development.

In terms of creating linkages between AT, downtown and WV/Brightleaf -- that's an excellent point. I think there's a few things that will help this:

1) Eventual fate of the TTA property between WV/Brightleaf and NC Mutual Life. The run-down buildings off Duke to the south side of the Chesterfield, all the way back to Main St., were taken by the TTA for a transit station and in-fill development. My hope is that Cherokee (the TTA's development partner) will end up doing something interesting with them that can help to create a corridor back to the ATHD. Also, the police department has talked about building a new HQ and selling off their parcel to developers, and Greenfire bought the NC Mutual Life building from the cash-poor insurer, so we may see development stretch back down Duke St.

2) Relocation of the bus station. Whether you like the plan or not (and many don't), the eventual multimodal transit station slated for the old Heart of Durham hotel lot will clear the DATA bus terminal out of the area between West Village and downtown, creating (hopefully) a better connection there.

3) Duke beltline trail. The old railroad tracks that run from the Duke Park neighborhood down through the old DAP district, paralleling Duke St. down to West Village and around to the ATHD are an intriguing pedestrian connection opportunity. The city and state are negotiating with the railroad to buy this abandoned rail line, which opens the door to a trail linking these areas. That will create direct pedestrian access between a number of the areas. I'd like to see the West Village folks step up and help fund this project, since even if the city/county buy the Duke Beltline (and the funds are appropriated for it), the city says there's no money in the budget yet to turn it into a trail.

4) Restructuring the downtown loop. A major barrier separating WV, downtown, and the ATHD is the ill-conceived downtown "loop" street pattern. Reportedly the city would like to change the loop back to a two-way grid, but there are no dollars available right now to do it. Fixing this would be a big help.

[heart]

At the end of the day, the most important 'link' allowing west village and tobacco to be more walkable will be an active city center. People don't mind walking as long as they don't have to walk by blocks of dark empty storefronts.

[Bull City Rising]

Heart -- I agree. Now that Greenfire owns a large number of properties downtown, I am eager to see their master plan later this spring to find out how they're planning to phase in retail/residential/office space among their properties. They've talked about bringing things online in a coordinated fashion to make sure new businesses can survive and that there's a residential/office worker base to match.

[heart]

Bull City Rising, I agree. I am excited to hear what the have planned and what sort of retail/entertainment they propose. We now have so many top-class restaurants in downtown that I would like to more diverse forms of entertainment. For example, if there are only great restaurants then people eat at the restaurant and then leave, but if you have a cool jazz club/music venue half block away then more people will be out walking around after dinner. I guess with the Carolina theater/Bulls stadium/ and new theater though that we do already have a lot to do within walking distance, but the more the merrier.

Heart -- I agree. Now that Greenfire owns a large number of properties downtown, I am eager to see their master plan later this spring to find out how they're planning to phase in retail/residential/office space among their properties. They've talked about bringing things online in a coordinated fashion to make sure new businesses can survive and that there's a residential/office worker base to match.

[Jones_]

Durhams next step is it needs lots and lots of downtown residents. WV I and II are a great start and Greenfire is bringing in a few along with AT having some, but I am talking about 10 mid-rise buildings with 100 apartments/condos apiece around the periphery..places like accross south of the RR tracks form the old Fosters, all around the ODAP/Central Park come to mind...the chicken and egg condundrum problem is everpresent but with the recent surge of restaurants it is time to hopefully see some more residential proposals beyond WV II.

[JDC]

3) Duke beltline trail. The old railroad tracks that run from the Duke Park neighborhood down through the old DAP district, paralleling Duke St. down to West Village and around to the ATHD are an intriguing pedestrian connection opportunity. The city and state are negotiating with the railroad to buy this abandoned rail line, which opens the door to a trail linking these areas. That will create direct pedestrian access between a number of the areas. I'd like to see the West Village folks step up and help fund this project, since even if the city/county buy the Duke Beltline (and the funds are appropriated for it), the city says there's no money in the budget yet to turn it into a trail.

I live right by the tracks that run along the east of Duke Street. Last week there were some heavy-duty land-clearing machines tearing out the brush from the train bridge over Trinity Ave. down through the tracks that run alongside the West Village area. I'd imagine the bridge over Trinity could somehow connect to the Ellerbee Creek Trail that runs north to the Museum of Life & Science and south to the American Tobacco Trail via Blackwell Street perhaps.

[ChiefJoJo]

I was in Durham on Sat night parusing Brightleaf looking for a bite to eat... went by Fishmongers (good but not what I was looking for), and the Federal (love the place, good food, but it was like a smoker's convention in there=not the best ambiance for a nice dinner w/the GF)... so we checked out Alivia's (Yfreemark's #48 Former Durham Cycle Center into restaurant conversion, completion 2007). I knew it hadn't been there too long, but the waiter said just two weeks! I really enjoyed the food, service & atmosphere was excellent (anyone who likes Durham's feel should love this place--also saw former Durham Mayor and current TTA General Counsel, Wib Gulley next to us), and found out they are also open at 6:30am for bkfast and coffee, and even lunch too! You name it, they have it. You Durhamites need to check that place out if you haven't already.

We strolled over to WV I and the gates were open... kinda cool in that courtyard area. Not a lot of activity, but the units looked great... had to have been 12+ foot ceilings in there! My only wish for phase I would have been a retail component to add to the streetlife down Duke St, but I think that will change along Duke and Fuller St in the near future (looked like there was some retail upfit going on) as WV II comes online and connects to Brightleaf. Right now, it's a bit dark and not the best environment for encouraging peds to walk thru there to the east. BDV's site says:

Plans include the adaptive reuse of the seven remaining adjacent buildings of the Liggett & Myers complex, built between 1884 and 1949. Totaling over 992,000 square feet, the project will consist of an additional 375 loft-style apartments, 164,000 square feet of class A office/lab space and 58,000 square feet of retail space on downtown's Main Street. With street level storefronts, improved sidewalks, attractive landscaping and new lighting, the expansion will enhance West Village's pedestrian friendly environment.

The Village will also become transit-oriented in design. A new train station for Amtrak will be located on site and the Triangle Transit Authority (TTA) is planning to build downtown Durham's regional rail station directly adjacent to West Village. Furthermore, the City of Durham's state-of-the-art bus station will be located just a few blocks away. A new 462-space garage with a coffee shop at ground level will also be constructed.

So, what is going to happen to the large Liggett bldg on Main (rt side of the pic I posted above)? Office/condos? and the overhead crosswalks? I wish BDV woud post their Phase II site plan.