One would have to be far more conspiratorially-minded than I to suggest that the American Tobacco East Deck incentives are just now appearing on the City Council docket, months after they were initially broached and yet just a week after the Council primary. Still, here we are, with a bevy of development items -- not simply American Tobacco -- on the docket for Monday night.
First up, of course, the American Tobacco parking deck incentives. Oddly, it's one of the only items on the agenda not to yet have the assorted PDFs posted for review, so no details to report yet; if true to form from the spring discussions, however, this will essentially involve the City and County providing a straightforward financial incentive to Capitol to build the East Deck parking structure between the Diamond View/Performing Arts Center, instead of the more complicated financial structure in place for the existing East and West decks.
Also on deck: an ominously-titled agenda item titled "Termination of the Golden Belt Redevelopment Plan." Fear not, artists and art-lovers; this isn't a reference to the current project driven by Scientific Properties, but the original Durham Housing Authority-led effort to transform Golden Belt into a vocational education center. With the DHA backing off of such thinking and the GBMC under new ownership, this is a mere formality of an action item to end the City's old approved redevelopment plan for the project.
And still more development: There's an agenda item to support the extension of water and sewer service (at developer's expense) to Northeast Creek, a proposed development at Ellis Rd. and the Durham Freeway. Look for this to be an area of significant change in the next few years; one 40-acre parcel is currently for sale on LoopNet for a presumed office/retail project, while just to the east sits this proposed 31-acre multifamily residential project. Though this could point towards apartments or townhouses, the LLC that controls the land is owned by Raleigh homebuilder Bob Polanco of Prominence Homes, suggesting perhaps the latter end for the project.
(Given the forthcoming East End Connector, one can imagine lots of sudden interest in the Ellis Road area for development given the massively improved freeway connection.)
Speaking of road work, the Council is set to cover work of a more pedestrian nature -- literally. The Council will vote on providing the municipality's share (about 13% of the $3.7m project) of the cost to add bike lines and sidewalks to Old Durham-Chapel Hill Road between Garrett Road in Durham and 15-501 in Chapel Hill. This project is expected to significantly improve bicycle and pedestrian access in South Durham along one of the only non-highway connections between the two cities.
Both the Northeast Creek and bike/ped projects are on the consent agenda and are thus likely to sail right through tonight on a procedural vote.
Comments