810 Minerva: Development board member becomes the developer?

It's one of those ironic moments that would belong in an Alanis Morissette song, or an O. Henry short story -- if O. Henry wrote pithy fiction about urban real estate.

The old milk warehouse at 810 Minerva Ave., just east of N. Duke St. nestled in behind the Duke Tower condos and up against an inactive railroad line, has been down the development path before. It was lined up a few years ago to become residential shell space in a project that stalled out.

Now a local resident has taken an option to purchase the property, contingent upon receiving a minor special use permit to allow ten residential units instead of the five previously approved, in a design that would resemble the conceptual drawing at right.

That Durhamite? One Ben Greene -- more familiar to local government-watchers as one of the faces on the dais as a member of the Durham Planning Commission, the quasi-governmental body that hears and recommends whether to approve or deny zoning and comprehensive plan changes.

This morning, Greene finds himself on a different side of the developer-government line, appearing before the Board of Adjustment later this morning to try to win approval for his project to move forward.

And what infill development project would find itself without possible community opposition? Greene may face this, too, courtesy of neighbors with parking and trash concerns.

Yet Greene seems weary of the stereotyped developer-community antipodal, antagonistic relationship.

"I’ve spent the majority of my time on the Planning Commission [disagreeing with those] who would support this idea that there are archetypal characters, heroes and villains," Greene said. "It’s incredibly wrong."

"I think that it’s important for everyone to realize that one person’s applicant is another person’s community member," Greene added.

Not many developers serve on government bodies that review development. Yet Greene defies stereotypes in another way: he's not a real estate developer.

Greene works instead for local technology firm NextLot, an online auction firm; he came to Durham with a B.S. in computer science, working for downtown technology firm NetFriends and working at their spinoff SciMed Solutions before ending up as the chief technology officer for the startup venture.

In fact, it was technology that led Greene to find out about 810 Minerva a few years ago in the first place. While working at NetFriends, he was hired by downtown realty firm Maverick Partners to design a web site for the project when it was a series of five units being sold as shell (not finished) space.

When that deal fell through, Greene says, he became interested -- seeing in a proposed doubling of units to ten the opportunity to capture what he considers an underserved market.

"In my opinion what downtown is lacking… in general is enough places to buy," Greene said. "In specific, the places people are looking to buy but can’t find are those 850-1200 square foot condos, in the price range from $190,000 to $230,000."

Although noting he wasn't yet sure the project would reach those prices he's seeing in his market studies, Greene notes he thinks "that that’s the sweet spot, somewhere in there."

Greene should know: he himself lives in West Village, just a few steps down from 810 Minerva, ensconced in a rental unit after being unable to find a property to buy.

"In downtown Durham, particularly inside the loop, there seems to be this goal to create the SoHo in Durham. But no one seems to remember that SoHo took a few steps to get to [what] it is now," Greene said. "Affordable is the first step to cool."

Separating West Village from 810 Minerva is one of the few residential purchase options downtown, and one of the oldest to boot. That would be the Bullington Warehouse condos, home to a number of residents and to some of the fastest-appreciating homes in central Durham.

And -- did we mention there was some irony to this story? -- the Bullington may turn out some opposition to the project.

Initially, Greene noted, he felt the project had the support of both the Bullington and Duke Tower. Some opposition from the former appeared after his proposal to close off the stubbed-out eastern end of Minerva to provide parking on site for condo residents.

Some Bullington residents suggested, according to Greene, they might want to have their parking lot connect through to Minerva, despite the steep drop-off between the two properties.

After that, Greene -- who is not required, in the downtown overlay district, to provide any on-site parking -- agreed to lease ten spaces from Duke Tower for residents and to connect the sites with a walkway, out of concerns that residents and guests might park in the Bullington, something some DSA students are reported to do on occasion.

Yet Greene's now hearing a desire for 20 leased spaces, and believes that some residents may come to oppose the project in front of the BOA.

Speaking for the Bullington homeowners association board, Diana Bello noted that "a contingent of Bullingtonites" would ask the BOA to deny the requested density increase to ten units if Greene is "unwilling to include a sensible plan for shared parking and shared refuse facilities offsite."

Bello notes that the small site (.19 acres) doesn't include space for onsite parking or trash facilities, and that while Greene has noted agreements are in place with neighboring properties for those services, the HOA wants to see those agreements in writing.

"Without such assurances, we are primarily concerned about impacts from cross access traffic, safety from the extra traffic and illegal parking in the Bullington Warehouse parking lot (which is already overcrowded and often filled with vehicles that don't belong here creating a parking issue for our residents) and secondarily with refuse issues," Bello said.

"The proposed design is attractive and certainly better than the shell of a building that is on the site now. We are not opposed to his project on the face of it outside of the concerns listed above," Bello added. "We are willing to work with Ben if he is willing to work with us."

The BOA hearing is needed for a minor special use permit in order to increase the density on the site, which is currently zoned industrial, but which has few restrictions on allowable use thanks to its siting in the downtown district.

16 dwelling units/acre is the usual limit in the DDO-3 overlay that 810 Minerva falls into; a 2006 BOA hearing approved an increase to 26.46 DU/ac. to suit the five condo plan, a density that now needs to double to support ten units. The project has been reviewed and approved by the Design District Review Team and its site plan can be approved by the Development Review Board, pending the BOA's issuance of a minor special use permit.

Greene's plans call for 1-2 bedroom units, mostly in the 700-800 sq. ft. range, with a few as large as 1,400+ sq. ft.

He notes that financing is lined up (though with pre-sales required in the current economic climate.) Ellen Cassily Architects and Horvath Associates are providing professional services, with Maverick's Derek Mangum remaining closely engaged in the effort.

Regardless of how the BOA vote turns out, in talking to Greene, it sounds like if one outcome were to result from this hearing, it'd be a better affinity between the development community and development's neighbors.

"People get the sense that applicants aren’t people. They feel like they’re companies… I don’t know where this complete distrust comes from," Greene said.

If Greene can get the two sides of that equation to be balanced and connected, O. Henry might just rise out of his grave to write a rare story indeed.

[Interested in more information on the 810 Minerva project? Email Ben at minervacondos@gmail.com.]

Comments

[KeepDurhamDifferent!]

Ugh, this is the development that will never die. I almost bought one of these when I was living in the slums of Trinity Park (Markham east of Duke), but the lack of a paved street was one of many negatives. I applaud Greene's effort to keep high-density housing affordable -- those Bullington residents should consider themselves lucky not to have a 1010 N. Duke next door and drop their opposition.

[Jonn]

If $190,000 to $230,000 is affordable, then I'll never be able to own a home.

[Jon]

The Bullington owners have a legitimate beef, I think. It's laughable the downtown regulations don't include a requirement that new developments provide parking - as if residents would be able to consistently find street parking and/or pay for (and walk from) parking in the West Village deck a few blocks away.

[RWE]

Parking concerns are not a valid reason to stand in the way of this project. If the Bullingtonians are truly worried about outsiders usurping their parking spaces, maybe they should print out some parking tags and have cars towed that don't display them.

The reality is that Ben would never be able to sell these units without some dedicated parking, but that should be his concern, not his neighbors'. Converting an abandoned eyesore into owner occupied housing can only increase the value of Bullington property and the safety of its residents.

[fullsteam]

Agree with RWE.

And "parking concerns" is a misnomer anyway: ten new units aren't going to make much of a dent in that massive, underutilized parking lot.

[John]

I'd like to clarify that SciMed Solutions was established in 2003 and Ben was hired in 2006. He did not start the spinoff, and the role he played in the spinoff seems intentionally exaggerated here to elevate his stature.

Ben was never in a leadership or decision making role in either company.

[Kevin Davis]

@John: The phrasing wasn't intended to exaggerate his stature -- and certainly not by Ben. I appear to have misstated the role; Ben's exact working on his NextLot web site is that he "helped Net Friends fortify a specialized development arm of the company, SciMed Solutions."

The error in phrasing here is mine and I have corrected the text; I trust you will not ascribe to Ben (or to me) any desire to deceive.

[John]

Thank you Kevin for your explanation and rapid response. You do such a fantastic job on this site to keep all of us Durhamites informed. Thanks so much for all that you do!

[Belstaff Jacket Sale]

So fun article is! I know more from it.