There are 2,200 residential units – apartments, condos, townhomes and houses – under construction as of Thursday afternoon, according to data provided by Downtown Durham Inc.
WEEKEND. COMING UP, 2 BIG WEATHER STORIES. KAT, THANKS. THERE’S AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION IN DOWNTOWN DURHAM. NEW NUMBERS, WRAL OBTAIN REVEALED. THERE ARE 2200 UNITS BEING BUILT RIGHT NOW. >> WRAL’S DURHAM REPORTER SARAH KRUEGER JOINS US LIVE DOWNTOWN TO SHARE HOW MUCH THE DOWNTOWN POPULATION COULD SOON GROW. SARAH. >> LENA, I LIVE IN DURHAM. ANY AMOUNT OF CONSTRUCTION IS JUST IMPOSSIBLE TO IGNORE ITS BEHIND ME. IT’S NEXT TO ME. IT IS SEEMINGLY EVERYWHERE. SO I REACHED OUT TO DOWNTOWN DURHAM, INCORPORATED FOR ANY DATA THEY MAY COME BOUGHT COMPILE AND ITS CEO TOLD ME THAT THE POPULATION HERE IN DOWNTOWN COULD DOUBLE IN JUST ABOUT 5 YEARS. THIS SOUNDS OF CONSTRUCTION ARE PART OF THE LANDSCAPE NOW IN DOWNTOWN DURHAM. >> WITH CRANES AND DRILLING ON JUST ABOUT EVERY BLOCK WILL BE READY FOR IT. I THINK WE NOW IS THE TIME TO REALLY START LOOKING AT HOW WE ADDRESS THAT. WE CAN’T TALK ABOUT IT ANYMORE. IT’S RIGHT HERE IN DOWNTOWN DURHAM, INCORPORATED, CEO NICOLE THOMPSON SAYS THE AMOUNT OF RESIDENTIAL GROWTH IS AN UNPRECEDENTED PROBABLY WITHIN THE NEXT 5 YEARS WILL DOUBLE OUR POPULATION. DOWNTOWN NUMBERS FROM DDI SHOW RESIDENTIAL CONSTRUCTION SLOWED DURING COVID AND NOW IS REBOUNDING. >> IN THE 1ST HALF OF THIS YEAR, THERE WAS MORE THAN DOUBLE THE TOTAL NUMBER OF UNITS BUILT LAST YEAR. THE REALLY STUNNING NUMBER IS HOW MANY NEW UNITS ARE IN THE WORKS. 2200, WHAT I HAVE IMAGINED THIS WHEN I WAS IN DOWNTOWN IN 1993, IT. PROBABLY NOT >> IT’S QUICK. IT’S HAPPENED VERY QUICKLY. IF YOU DON’T GROW THE NEW DIET. >> SO IT’S HOW WE MANAGE THAT GROWTH. DDI DEFINES DOWNTOWN HAS ROUGHLY BALLPARK TO BALLPARK. 3 QUARTERS SQUARE MILE. >> ACCORDING TO ITS DATA, ONLY 105 OF THE 2200 UNITS BEING BILLED ARE CONSIDERED AFFORDABLE. THAT’S A CONCERN FOR SOME LOCALS. HOPEFULLY DURHAM WILL BE COGNIZANT OF WHAT THAT MEANS FOR OUR CULTURE AND PROTECTING THOSE WHO >> BE DISENFRANCHISED BY THE GROWTH. THOMPSON BELIEVES AFFORDABILITY IS IMPORTANT, TOO, AS IS MAINTAINING THE CHARACTER THAT MAKES DOWNTOWN DURHAM SUCH A DESIRABLE PLACE TO LIVE. TO HEAR PEOPLE SAY DURHAM’S, NOT FOR EVERYBODY, BUT IT IS THAT DIVERSITY THAT AUTHENTICITY THAT PEOPLE SO MUCH WANT TO BE A PART OF. >> AND DOWNTOWN DURHAM INCORPORATED SAYS THE AVERAGE PRICE OF A CONDO FOR SALE IN DOWNTOWN DURHAM IS ABOUT HALF A MILLION DOLLARS. THE AVERAGE RENTAL PRICE DOWNTOWN, ABOUT 1800 A MONTH LENA. YES, CERTAINLY NOT AFFORDABLE.
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