Durham Development Watchlist - November 2019

It's been a while since the last development watchlist. It seems that announcements and new projects have slowed down a smidge. I'm not sure if we should be attributing that to a threat of a pullback in the standard real estate cycle, or just a seasonal phenomenon. Once again, these projects are either rumored, subject to change, or I have limited info, so feel free to chime in with more info or projects that I may have missed. You can give your $0.02 on the forums!

I didn't add any of these projects to the ongoing development map for various reasons (size, updates, no set locations, etc).

A. Mt. Moriah Rd Project

Address: 3805 Mt Moriah Rd

264 Unit Apartment Complex
7,150 SF clubhouse
Development plan currently under review

B. Hoover Rd Project

Address: 608 S. Hoover Rd

6473 SF office and service building.
This looks like it will be office space for a current fencing contractor and not something that will hit the market for lease.

C. UPDATE: Crown at 501

Address: Patterson Place

Just a small update - the previously reported Witherspoon Apartments is under construction now and has a new name: Crown at 501. I assume that this will be its official name when it opens.

D. Ponysaurus Addition

Address: 219 Hood St

This news may only be interesting to those of you who like beer, but Ponysaurus has a new development case (D1900247) that adds a mere 160 SF, which coincidentally is the size of a normal shipping container. Adding a shipping container bar that can be open all the time (they currently have one for special occasions, I think) would be great on busy weekends!

E. Fifth Third Bank

Address: Westgate & University Dr

I assume that this 2,400 SF project is a new bank branch, with Fifth Third bank looking to remain competitive as Truist gains steam (merger of BB&T and SunTrust).

E. Durham Wayfinding

Address: Downtown

I am really excited about Durham's Wayfinding Project. The city is scheduled to start implementing this signage in early 2020 and be done before the end of 2020. It may seem small, but I think it will go a long way to giving downtown even more of a sense of place. It won't only be useful, but create a cohesive feel to downtown. I do like the sign designs that they landed on:

The incorporation of the Durham flag as well as "warehouse-reminiscent" brick is great. I look forward to seeing these go up.

BONUS:

F. ReUse Affordable Housing

(not on the map above) The Scrap Exchange is taking a deliberate, community driven approach to redeveloping the north side of Lakewood Shopping Center. The news came out recently that they have plans to create 33 affordable units, located in the current Rhythms Music Hall side parking lot. Again, their slow approach means that the goal is to construct these units over the course of the next ten years. I am not sure if they plan to do a phased approach or what the form will be for these units, but it will be right next to BrodyCo's Brodmont housing development, so density in that area should look a bit different in ten years!

Again, not a lot of huge projects over the last few months! Share your thoughts on these projects or the lack of big projects on the forum!