On August 19th, the Durham city council voted 6-0 to approve a company, the Peebles Corporation, for redevelopment of the former police headquarters at 505 W. Chapel Hill Street. The council also voted 5-1 that the city should keep ownership of the land and that the development agreement needs to contain either “substantial additional affordable units or an annual cap on rent increases not to exceed six percent” [1, timestamp 1:51:00].
The current proposal for the old police HQ calls for 380 apartment units. About a quarter, 92 units, would be affordable at between 30 and 60 percent area median income (AMI). Retail space, lab space, and a hotel are included in the most recent proposal from Peebles [2].
“This is the last really large parcel in downtown that the city owns,” said council member Chelsea Cook. During the meeting on August 19th, Cook also indicated that affordable housing and resident-oriented retail were her main priorities as the redevelopment project moves forward.
Cook said, “People that live in downtown Durham, they’re leaving for all their stuff… People drive into downtown, they have dinner, and then they leave. There’s no pharmacy anymore, there’s no grocery store… We have an amazing opportunity to make downtown Durham an actual place where people can live” [1, timestamp 1:07:00].
Since Durham owns the former police HQ site, the city council is legally allowed to extract more community benefits than usual from the developer. For example, council members normally could not demand a permanent cap of six percent for rent increases. Rent control has been illegal in North Carolina since 1987 [3].
Mark-Antony Middleton pushed back hard against the annual cap:
“I don’t know the math or science behind that number. It might need to be higher than six percent. I mean where did that number come from? I don’t know the calculus or the equation that came up with that number… It might need to be nine percent or eight percent” [1, timestamp 1:36:00].
Council member DeDreana Freeman replied that the idea came from the President of the United States, who called for an annual cap on rent increases of five percent in July 2024 [4].
State laws such as the rent control ban and the Umstead Act form a legislative wall that protects the financial interests of landlords and developers. As a result, city and county governments in North Carolina are unable to enact comprehensive solutions for high rents and home prices. Municipalities are permitted to tinker at the margins of the housing market through the use of zoning powers, an approach that could provide partial relief. Durham residents interested in this prospect have focused on the upcoming revision of the city's Universal Development Ordinance (UDO).
The Umstead Act prevents governments from competing with private business in most contexts [5]. For example, the law would make it illegal for Durham to build a skyscraper on 505 W. Chapel Hill Street, divide it into hundreds of apartment units, and charge $750 monthly rent to anyone willing to pay.
At the August 19th meeting, council member Nate Baker remarked that his mother had worked as a gardener at the old police HQ.
“I want to see as much permanent, deeply affordable housing as possible,” said Baker. “I would like to ensure public ownership and public dedication… ensuring that in any open space we retain ownership of the land or that there’s public dedication so that it’s not privatized open space” [1, timestamp 1:01:00].
Baker also commented, “The site is a gateway into different parts of downtown. It’s important that it’s iconic”. He wanted to ensure that, “there are small retail spaces and non-residential types of spaces on the first floor so that people are moving in and out, activating the street” [1, timestamp 1:02:00].
As an exceptional case, 505 W. Chapel Hill Street shows the difficulty that local governments face in securing community benefits from developers. Since Durham owned this particular site, the city could directly and strongly negotiate for rent control and affordable housing, but council members rarely have so much leverage.
City hall was crowded during the debate on the former police HQ. The spokespeople of many civic organizations, as well as many engaged citizens, weighed in on various aspects of the redevelopment project. Given the housing crisis in Durham, development votes by city council receive intense public scrutiny. The following quote about the city's housing issues comes from a recent IndyWeek article:
“Out of roughly 122,000 households in Durham, nearly 39,000 can’t afford their current living situation. The Durham Housing Authority (DHA), long starved of resources by the federal government, has a 3,500-person waitlist for one of the 1,700 units DHA controls and an 8,000-person waitlist for the housing vouchers tenants can use on the private market, according to DataWorks NC” [6].
Work Cited
“Durham City Council Aug 19 2024.” YouTube channel of City of Durham, 20 Aug. 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfmAc3Q7LMQ.
Thompson, Kayli. “New Plan for Former Durham Police HQ Costs $285M With Hotel, Apartments, Retail.” Triangle Business Journal, 20 Aug. 2024, www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2024/08/20/durham-police-hq-development-peebles-corporation.html.
Gordon, Brian. “NC Answers: Why North Carolina Doesn’t Allow Rent Control.” Asheville Citizen Times, 20 Jan. 2022, www.citizen-times.com/story/news/2022/01/12/why-doesnt-nc-have-rent-control-why-rent-control-illegal-nc/8838065002.
“Fact Sheet: President Biden Announces Major New Actions to Lower Housing Costs by Limiting Rent Increases and Building More Homes.” The White House, 16 July 2024, www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/07/16/fact-sheet-president-biden-announces-major-new-actions-to-lower-housing-costs-by-limiting-rent-increases-and-building-more-homes.
Childress, Greg. “Durham Leaders Hope 2024 Will Be Different for Local Workforce Housing Legislation.” NC Newsline, 15 May 2024, www.ncnewsline.com/2024/05/15/durham-leaders-hope-2024-will-be-different-for-local-workforce-housing-legislation.
Hartman, Matt. “At Home With the Matadors: Durham’s Housing Crisis, SCAD, and Their Impacts on the Upcoming Election.” IndyWeek, 21 Sept. 2023, indyweek.com/news/durham/at-home-with-the-matadors-durhams-housing-crisis-scad-and-their-impacts-on-the-upcoming-election.
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