BCR's Daily Fishwrap Report for July 15, 2009

The H-S' Monica Chen has a nice feature in today's Herald-Sun on the South Square area, where car dealers have closed, saladier Green Tango pulled out (due in part to lack of redevelopment), and where the University Marketplace mixed-use development on the old Regency Plaza site is still halted due to the economy and credit markets.

Many of the folks cited in the story -- including Sitar India Palace's owner, who's left Regency Plaza entirely now pending redevelopment -- cite University Marketplace as the key driver of residential growth and retail space to turn around the area. And it makes the arrival of new-restaurant Eden in the Southcourt building this fall so much more important. See more in the H-S.

In other news:

• Greenfire and the City have been in a dispute over whether the sidewalk outside their Rogers Alley development on Mangum were damaged by the developer's construction efforts or before; Greenfire notes photos showing damage before work began, while the City says heavy trucks helped. Meantime, the incentives contract for Greenfire's next phase --including the SunTrust tower -- will make next Thursday's Council work session agenda. (H-S)
• Even as some Falls Lake beaches in Wake Co. are closing due to pollution, the legislature's attempts to set rules for pollution control for Durham's other watershed failed to move beyond committees this year, leaving Falls-dependent Wake Co. fuming and Durham with a bit more time for what promises to be yet another set of unlucky-geography pollution controls. (The Durham News)
• NCDOT is putting in for $4 billion in high-speed rail projects from the Feds, out of $8 billion in funding authorized this year. Though NC is unlikely to get that full allocation -- states have put in for $93 billion in projects -- our state's high-speed rail project has been seen as one of the most viable and prepared efforts ready for funding. Money would go towards improving crossings, double-tracking and other changes to improve average train speeds; reconstructing the Raleigh-to-Richmond corridor (opening the door to high-speed rail from Charlotte to DC); and planning for future WNC and Wilmington service. (N&O)
• Union Independent School, which will provide a tuition-free private school education for students in North-East Central Durham, is delaying its opening by a month due to construction delays. Its first year of operation will be as a traditional-calendar rather than year-round calendar as a result. (H-S)
• 292 Duke employees (35% of those offered) accepted early buyouts from Duke, well above expectations and an uptake likely to minimize the impact of involuntary layoffs. (N&O)
• Durham political newcomer Allan Polak has filed to challenge Mike Woodard in the Ward 3 race; Polak moved to Durham a couple of years ago but has some past board service in Chapel Hill, and runs an IT consulting firm. (H-S)
• The Durham News' Stanley Chambers, Jr. looks at the billboard debate, including views from opponents and supporters of allowing digital billboards in the Bull City. (The Durham News)

Comments

[209]

I've been asking the city to fix my sidewalk (N Church St.) for more than 5 years. Not only is it a hazard too, but when it rains, water leaks into my basement. For the last 5 years different city departments stopped by, took photo's, 'We'll get back to you...' - blah-blah-blah. Never to hear back from the city again. Someday someone is doing to trip and sue the city. Just a matter of time... This post will when be printed and used by the plaintiff's attorney.

- 209

[Patrick Morrison]

I see opportunity in the failures of this redevelopment called University Marketplace. Instead of new construction, why not utilize all the existing empty car dealerships and other businesses for new business and make greenspace of the asphalt wasteland that current sits ideal and blights everything around it.

[Myers Sugg]

No to electronic billboards! The blight and visual litter associated with all billboards, electronic or traditional is not good for Durham. Durham spent a fortune in the 1980's to clean up it's image by removing a good portion of the existing billboards. That process continues, at a slower pace now with the ordinances in place. Let's continue down that path. We don't need to look like Atlanta or Las Vegas. The lobby for this effort is disingenuous in portraying this change as having a major public benefit. It's all about profit folks. Profit for a company that doesn't operate out of Durham. Jobs for folks who don't live in Durham. Let's publicly reject this deep pocketed effort by Fairway Advertising, and it's representatives who tout they care about Durham, while at the same time line their pockets at the expense of our City and it's image...Myers Sugg

[Steve Nicewarner]

Back on "Shooting the Bull" a couple weeks ago, you mentioned the idea of using the University Marketplace space for the new high school instead of the Duke Forest land. I was an interesting idea -- has it received any traction?

[merry]

Green Tango is gone? Oh no! Hope the new one over on Erwin meets with more lasting success.

[Kevin Davis]

@Patrick: I'm not ready to write the obit for University Marketplace just yet. Lots of projects are getting delayed due to the economy, and I'm not sure this one is all that different. Hawthorne's got a good track record -- I've checked out what they've done in Durham on Shannon Rd. and in Raleigh, and they do quality work.

@Steve: Kinda related to the above notion, the land isn't exactly on the market (as far as I know.) I do like the idea of adaptive re-use, though I kind of wonder whether it isn't _less than_ the highest and best use of the site.

By which I mean: doesn't the opposite issue apply as on Erwin/Cornwallis? There's enough road capacity at South Square to support a regional mall; wouldn't a land-heavy, relatively small use like a high school be underutilizing the fixed transportation infrastructure investment, relative to the tax production impact of a mall. Opportunity costs and all that.

BTW: this is a new idea I'm turning over, having previously been much more intrigued by the South Square site for a new high school than I am today...

[Steve Nicewarner]

@Kevin: All valid points. But would a site with such a strong transportation network also support a school with a smaller footprint? I am by no means a land use expert, especially on commercial real estate, but it's an interesting idea to explore. It certainly beats the empty parking lot and rubble piles that are there now and will be there for the next few years.

[Seth Vidal]

1. Train travel to Western NC - specifically Asheville and high speed rail to richmond and points north would fill me with such joy it is hard to imagine.

2. Has there been any new news on any underhanded machinations by the billboard industry to get their godforsaken power-wasting blight added to our fair city? Please keep us informed if there are.

Also if there are any non-profits who are now supporting electronic billboards in durham I'd love to get a list of them so I can add them to my personal blacklist of organizations I will NOT support.