Durham celebrates milestone in affordable housing efforts

November 24, 2025

EJP partners with the Durham Housing Authority (DHA) to advance the Durham Downtown and Neighborhood Plan (DDNP), a $40 million Choice Neighborhoods initiative to revitalize downtown and expand access to high-quality, mixed-income housing. As part of this effort, EJP provides program management for the implementation of the Choice Neighborhoods grant and supports DHA through comprehensive supportive services and resident engagement. This partnership extends to DHA’s downtown initiatives, including the long-anticipated East Main Street mixed-income development.

A decade after it was conceived, a mixed-income apartment development in the heart of downtown Durham is almost full.

The Renegade Apartments at 335 E. Main St. opened this fall and by December, will be completely occupied. Advocates say it’s a big success in efforts to diversify housing in the Bull City by using government-owned land in a central and prime location.

The 110 apartments range from studios to three bedrooms, with 22 designated for people with housing vouchers from the Durham Housing Authority who make up to 30% of the area median income. In Durham, that’s about $32,000 for a four-person household.

Another 68 units are for people making up to 60% of the AMI, or about $50,550 for a four-person household, and 20 units are for residents making up to 80% of the AMI.

A one-bedroom begins at $1,025, while a studio starts at $975, or $894 during a holiday special. Two-bedrooms for a household making 30% of the AMI is $1,044.

In contrast, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Durham is $1,368. The N.C. Housing Coalition estimates that nearly half of renters in Durham County are spending 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities.

At a ribbon cutting Friday, Durham County officials joined housing advocates and the Charlotte-based developer, Laurel Street Residential, in front of the apartment building to talk about the project’s years-long completion.

“It’s important for our board’s desire to provide additional affordable housing units to help meet the increased need that continues to exist in our community,” County Manager Claudia Hager said.

Affordable housing in Durham’s downtown area

The Renegade building has an attached 780-space parking garage with an elevator, a linear park running the length of the building from Main Street to Liberty Street and about 4,000 square feet of commercial space on the ground-floor of the parking deck along Queen Street that is owned and operated by the county.

The multi-phase development, years in the making, includes 110 affordable housing units, a pre-K and childcare center, and approximately 4,000 square feet of commercial space.

The apartments are directly across from the former Durham Housing Authority headquarters and within walking distance of entertainment, dining and shopping options downtown.

In 2017, Durham County began seeking development partners for county-owed parking lots at 300 and 500 E. Main St Two years later, the county contracted with Laurel Street Residential to redevelop the lots in two separate projects. The developer is behind other affordable apartment projects throughout the state, including the Arbors at Cary.

At 500 E. Main St., the Maizon Durham is open as a luxury apartment building, with units starting at $1,143 per month.

“When I think about the peaceful life of this building in 50 plus years — and many of us might not be here — I think about the citizens, the families, children, all of those folks that are going to be impacted and going to benefit from living in this residence,” said Peri Manns, the county’s deputy director of engineering.

Manns said Friday that the idea for the apartment project was first developed in 2015 and became an election issue in 2016 when officials sought input from residents on affordable housing initiatives.

“This was the commitment,” he said.

Durham County officials have long discussed using public land for affordable housing. In 2021, the city opened the Willard Street Apartments, a partnership among private investors, the Downtown Housing Improvement Corp. and the City of Durham. The 82 apartments were built on city-owned land with 22 of them designed for households at 30% AMI.

Anthony Snell, the interim director of the housing authority, said the Renegade partnership has given the community’s desires for more housing options a “major lift.” The 22 vouchers that residents can use at Renegade were transferred from vacant units at the McDougald Terrace public housing community, he said.

“We took the subsidy from those units, transferred them here to this site to assist with the sustainability of those but also, creating opportunity, creating a revenue base, higher rents for those 22 units, which help the project overall,” he said.

On Merrick Street, meanwhile, the housing authority is redeveloping the former Fayette Place apartments and on Page Road, it’s behind a 160-unit apartment complex that will be completely affordable.

Among the amenities Renegade renters can enjoy are a fitness center, clubhouse, computer room and bike storage. There will soon be a daycare on the ground-floor.

Read the original article at https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/durham-county/article313005968.html