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Heritage Square

urbanesq

By urbanesq
in The NC Triangle

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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From the article:

Larry and Denise Hester denounced the project as a handout to a multimillionaire developer that ignores the concerns of the black working class and business owners who work along Fayetteville Street.

They have advocated for dramatic streetscape improvements down the full length of Fayetteville Street and city funding to improve the appearance of businesses.

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dth Crossroads

dth

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There are several documents, drawings, etc related to this project on the City of Durham web site:

http://www.durhamnc.gov/agendas/2007/cm200...tsList.cfm#3935

I am having a hard time telling the difference between the Herald Square project and similar developments like The Streets at Southpoint and Brier Creek. Is building a mall in that neighborhood is necessarily a good thing for the people who live there? I am not surprised that the majority of Durham City Council voted for public funding of this project but I do not agree with that decision.

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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Looking at one of those documents, Heritage Square will have 10 (10% of 100) units as "affordable".

But affordable is determined to be just under $1000/month in year one -- 30% of $39,950 (80% of average median income). If the affordable units are $1k/month, the other 90 units will be more than that. Is that market ready for those kinds of prices on the "other" side of 147? We'll see.

The plans make it look like a "lifestyle center" like North Hills or Meadowmount than a "mall" like Northgate or Southpoint. It seems a lot of the active uses -- dining, shops, etc. -- *won't* be near Fayetville Street, but on the interior. This follows the same vein of Brightleaf Square, American Tobacco, West Village, and the "street" portion of SouthPoint. It is more urban than a strip mall, but is turning its back on its surroundings. How many of these does Durham need? Why isn't the city pushing for more "street friendly" areas like 9th street, Main street opposite of Brightleaf, etc.? It seems car-oriented from the outside, and the will walk to cross 147 via Fayetville or Roxboro is not exactly pedestrian friendly either.

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RaleighRob Burg

RaleighRob

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Looking at one of those documents, Heritage Square will have 10 (10% of 100) units as "affordable".

But affordable is determined to be just under $1000/month in year one -- 30% of $39,950 (80% of average median income). If the affordable units are $1k/month, the other 90 units will be more than that. Is that market ready for those kinds of prices on the "other" side of 147? We'll see.

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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An *ice cream truck* could almost raise more sales tax than the property currently does.

The office/retail/residential mix will be interesting, and is hard to see from the drawings. With the existing topography, they are going to put a lot of the parking below the buildings, which is nice, but it may take some form of transportation to get there, except for residents of the development and nearby residents.

There will be a benefit of *convenince* for NC Central students and faculty to shop closer to campus. But as dth says, the city and county aren't *recouping* lost sales tax revenue. Almost all of the sales tax revenue generated/"lost" by NCCU students, faculty and the Hayti community goes to Northgate, Southpoint, South Square Target/Sams Club, the 15/501 corridor, etc., staying in Durham city and county. The general sales tax pot for the city/county will get somewhat bigger because of this project, but most of the tax dollars collected at this site will be "redirected" dollars, not "new" ones.

There are a lot of NCCU students who move to the area from other parts of the state and country, but that has already been happening for decades and won't change because of this project. I don't know how far along the rest of downtown will be, but those projects won't have an effect on this side of 147.

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ncwebguy Burg

ncwebguy

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It is sad/unfortunate that some members of communities like Hayti felt, for either economic or social reason, the need to partner with the the lowest, common criminals. Cash generated via drug markets quickly buys enough firepower and influence to destroy once proud neighborhoods. The Durham Freeway project didn't help, but criminals had a more devistating influence, and the Hayti community -- the physical streets and spirit throughout the city -- should have demanded better from itself all along.

To keep out a developer solely because you *know* it will make your property look bad in comparison is bad. To make it a race issue is even worse.

Downtown Durham 2010 will be a lot different than it is today. Hopefully in three years from now, Heritage Square and the other Scientific Properties projects on the other side of the freeway east of downtown will be vibrant, and not a "whatever happend to..." footnote.

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