Business View Magazine | February 2018

76 77 DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA the community.” Today, the renovated building, and a new addition that has been built onto it, is home to a mix of 79 units of affordable senior housing and a pre-kin- dergarten facility containing eight classrooms. “Affordable housing, pre-K, downtown revitalization, and historic preservation were all important consid- erations for the County Commissioners,”Cummings reports.“The total project cost was about $22.4 million and the county’s cash contribution to that was $8.35 million. In addition to that,we had low income housing tax credits, and both state and fed- eral historic tax credits,which were a key to financ- ing the renovation of the historic building and the construction of the new one.The pre-K classrooms have been open since August and the senior hous- ing units are prettymuch full. It’s hoped that the seniors and the kids will interact in ways that are helpful and productive for both.” All the development activity taking place in the Southside,much of it publicly subsidized, has served to achieve one of the Community Development De- partment’s major objectives: jump starting a spate of private development.“We wanted to see the neighborhood reach a tipping point where private investment would come in and take over,” Johnson states.“We’re starting to realize that now, because we’re seeing private developers come in and pur- chase existing properties, rehab existing properties, or purchase some of the vacant lots and construct new units on them.What we did at The Lofts, from a rental perspective, really helped us jump start the revitalization effort for this neighborhood.With- out that,we probably wouldn’t have realized the success on the home ownership side.The city still controls a number of lots and we’re discussing how we’re going to move forward with the remaining lots. So, I think, overall, the investment that the city’s made, the investment that McCormack Baron has made, the investment that the county’s made in less than a half-mile radius area, has had a huge impact on the overall economic upturn of this community. We’re seeing positive results of the seed money that the city put in, along with others.” Finally, the Jackson Street Project is a proposed development that, although, not in the Southside Revitalization Project area, is a key element of the city’s downtown affordable housing and broader economic strategies.“There’s been a dramatic in- crease of activity in market rate development in our downtown area,” says Department of Community Development Project Manager, Richard Valzonis.“As a result of that, it’s become more and more difficult for individuals at lower income levels to be able to afford to live, and to visit, our downtown. So, in an effort to increase the supply of affordable housing in our downtown area,we issued an RFQ for a city- owned site that’s located downtown, adjacent to our multi-modal transportation center.As a result of that RFQ,we received a response from a local, affordable housing developer, along with a local fi- nancial institution that serves individuals who have a need within our community.” “City Council then moved to provide a subsidy to our development partner to move forward with the construction of 80 units on this downtown site,” Valzonis continues.“They will be made available to families earning 60 percent or below of our Area Median Income. In addition to the affordable housing being developed on the site, there’s also a huge demand downtown for office and parking. So,