Note from Storm: This article shows that not all existing assets are worth saving. We’ve built a lot of “garbage” buildings in recent decades, so restorative development often means repurposing, remediating, and renewing the value of the underlying real estate, not the structures.
From the article: With the recent sale of two former car dealerships near the American Tobacco Campus, downtown Durham, North Carolina is poised to enter a new phase in its ongoing transformation.
Encompassing about 18 acres directly southeast of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, the land is a blank canvas where developers plan to invest hundreds of millions of dollars building a mix of office towers, apartments, retail and hotels.
The projects are noteworthy both for being in a highly visible location along the Durham Freeway and because they do not involve bringing back to life historical structures.
“Adaptive reuse, the preservation of our historic structures, that put Durham on the map,” said Geoff Durham, president of Downtown Durham Inc.
“But these are car dealerships and a large majority of that is surface lots. By all accounts this next wave is going to be kind of skyline altering.”
Two Charlotte-based developers, CitiSculpt and Northwood Ravin, are now fleshing out their plans for the sites.