Downtown Durham Photo Tour

[romec]

So Raleigh-NC and I were in Durham last week, and here are some photos.
(Ernest feel free to jump in with your pics)

The first of ~ 1 billion suntrust photos in this thread

Durham Centre










I still see CCB






Lucky Strike


Lots of Construction





Got any Gum?





The Bull City


wants Oprah










Obligatory skyline shot from rearview mirror (Wasn't driving this time :-) )




Uh oh, Durham has a Central Park (intentionally leaving out a sarcastic comment)

[RGV]

Nice DT. What's the population?

[blessarom]

Downtown Durham looks good
nice pics romec thanks.

[Raleigh-NC]

Outstanding work, romec It exceeded my expectations, given the weather conditions. I LOVED the bull shot - with 'o' not 'i', in case anyone thinks it is a typo - with SunTrust Tower in the background. DT Durham is a HUGE construction site, which is not as evident in these photos (or mine), as we both focused on the finished areas. The West Village project is also moving forward at fast speeds. For those not familiar with DT Durham, most of the current projects are focused on renovations, but we are talking about VERY big renovation projects, with millions of square feet involved.

romec, should I append my photos here? I would hate to add yet-another thread on the same subject. Thanks for sharing your work with us

RGV, I do not know what is the current population of DT Durham. It is not much, I can tell you this, but with all the renovations catering mostly to offices, it will be a while before a significant population is in place. The good news is that there are a few residential projects under way. I will get back to you if I find the most recent population number.

[romec]

Raleigh-NC, Yeah, definitely add your photos in!

RGV, I'm not sure about the DT population either, but Durham itself is a shade over 200K. (205K according to wikipedia in 2005)

[TwinCity]

downtown Durham is growing on me. maybe ive been in DC too long, but im starting to favor old mid - low rises with great urbanity over towers that do nothing for the urban fabric of a downtown.

very nice downtown!

[cityboi]

Nice pics!!! Durham is about the size of Winston-Salem. The two cities have been playing cat and mouse with population over the past several years. I love the character of downtown Durham.

[Raleigh-NC]

Durham has not established itself as a high-rise city. I think that it can become something along the same lines with Washington DC, if the city officials play their cards right. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see several towers above 30 stories, but I think that DT Durham has taken a path that will make it VERY hard to see such structures appearing in the skyline. Even a few non-pedestrian friendly towers can help the image, without ruining the ground level experience - they can feed the nearby stores/restaurants with customers. Durham has maintained a lot of its old character and both I and romec agree on the potential. There is a lot of underutilized land that could provide opportunities for all sorts of urban developments. I mean, Durham will definitely look VERY busy if 10% of that land is developed.

Prime example is the lot you see in the photo below. If I am not mistaken, this is the site for which two 27-story towers, totalling 450 units, were proposed in the past, along with some townhomes. I can neither confirm, nor deny it, but the two high-rises were called "ugly" by some Durhamites. I have only seen a preliminary rendering - I may still have it somewhere - and I cannot draw conclusions. Also, it was rumored that the developer could not actually deliver what he promised, but I have no evidence to support this rumor. This is the site of the former Downtowner Motor Inn, later named Heart of Durham, which was demolished a few years ago.

As you can see, a nice high-rise project would probably be the best use for this lot. Given its proximity to the [still] envisioned TTA regional rail station, a large project would make a lot of sense. Maybe Craig Davis, after purchasing the Durham Centre may set his eyes on redeveloping this parcel.

[triadcat]

Great pics of Durham
It is like the Triangle's Winston-Salem.
Ive been thru DT a few times.......love the old brick buildings.

[Lakelander]

Great pics. I was just in Raleigh and Durham last week. In person, Durham strikes me as a smaller city than it's population suggests (felt similar in size to Lakeland, FL, which has about 90,000 residents), while looking at statistics. I also visited Winston-Salem a few years ago and urban fabric wise, it felt quite a bit larger than Durham and more comparable with Raleigh's downtown. However, I was really impressed with the old mills that have been converted into lofts, restaurants, etc., as well as 9th Street, near Duke.

[Raleigh-NC]

You should have seen DT Durham 10 years ago

[emutiny]

I haven't been so impressed with downtown Durham. I think it needs alot more work then the crap they are doing now. The ballpark is nice though.

[Raleigh-NC]

Certainly, DT Durham is a work in progress, but it is getting there. To reach the status of "impressive" it will take many years, no doubt.

[nothcaylina]

Durham's a very interesting city in my opinion. It has a gritty urban feel that Raleigh lacks on some level--but it's not nearly as enterprising or large. Raleigh will continue to lead w/ more modern design as it's downtown continues to expand. Durham's downtown, on the other hand, is being redeveloped much differently. It appears that some of these Greenfire properties and others are going to be turning to some great spots in the downtown (Revolution, Dos Perros, etc.). With West Village redeveloping--it's really going to be a continuous area of activity before you know it.

Durham's ace in the hole is that it's an extremely creative and organic area. The restaurants there are probably the best in the entire state when taken as a whole (Food & Wine did a nice little piece on the Triangle--Durham featured prominantly), and it's not "concept driven"--which makes the place feel original. With the new street layout downtown, I think this area will feel busy and vibrant in no less than 5 years.

They do need to really get some mid to high rise residential in the core though to compliment WVillage, Ambacco, etc.

[Raleigh-NC]

Durham's restaurants are some of the best in the state and have received recognition from national magazines. In addition to the entertainment options, there is a lot of grit to make DT Durham very organic. I think that in a few years DT Durham will have an opportunity to evaluate new infill proposals, but for the moment it is deep in the renovation phase and won't slow down. Can't wait to see a few 10-20 story residential buildings built near the rail tracks. That would help TTA's regional rail proposal in a big way

[newyorkrunaway1]

great pics! i hav never seen durham before now

[orulz]

Nice pics.

CCB plaza has so much potential to be a really awesome gathering space. Bounded by Parrish, Chapel Hill, Corcoran, and Market Street, The design and scale of the space are perfect.

However, excepting the two-story early 20th century commercial buildings along Market Street to the west, the buildings that surround the plaza don't address it correctly. While that is to be expected because the Washington Duke Hotel was there for decades, followed by a parking lot for several more decades, now is the time for that to change.

To the south, on the Parrish Street side of the plaza, we find the SunTrust (formerly CCB) building. All the retail spaces and entrances for this building are along Corcoran and Main; there are no entrances to the building from Parrish. It seems like it should be a fairly easy fix to turn the windows into doors, creating an entrance for the boutique hotel, but making retail spaces would probably be more difficult.

To the north, is the convention center hotel, the Marriott. While the Chapel Hill street entrance to the hotel does indeed address the plaza, the entranceway is not very prominent - it's maybe 15 feet wide - and the rest of the Chapel Hill St facade is either blank walls or an ENORMOUS hole in the side of the building for deliveries. The whole ground floor of this hotel needs to be re-done.

On the east is the We Want Oprah building, formerly the Jack Tar motel. It's an unusual building, and it does incorporate a few retail spaces, but its prominent parking entrance and the overall odd proportions and design of the hotel make me think that it might be targeted for redevelopment eventually, perhaps along with the Greenfire office tower proposed across Corcoran from the Suntrust Building.

[Raleigh-NC]

orulz, nice to read your comments here (SSC). You always show appreciation for the ground-level experience and make good suggestions for creating well connected and attractive areas. I agree with you. There are tremendous opportunities for fixing up a lot of things in DT Durham. Unfortunately, the list is too long and it will take many years to see it shrink significantly. If a developer with deep pockets and appreciation for Durham's historic fabric (i.e. Greenfire) focuses on one little area at a time, the chances of delivering a better experience will increase dramatically. I know these renovations are already taking place, but things are not moving as fast as I would like them to. When romec and I were in DT Durham, there was still construction on the road. Wasn't that supposed to be completed before they threw that big party? Not to mention there were spots already damaged My guess is, they took a lot of shortcuts and did cheap work. Another thing that pisses me off is the pedestrian experience at the ATC. There is nothing on the outside to invite people... Nothing. All you see from the street is a well renovated building, but you don't know what is going on in the yard, at the center of the project, where all the activity is. They should have made the facade more attractive and inviting, IMHO.

On the positive side, I always enjoy my visits to DT Durham. I normally go there on Sunday evenings and I must say I am impressed with the activity. It is not visible to the average person, but it is there, and at satisfactory levels. DT Durham needs more residents and I would assume something like Glenwood South is needed; create a mixed-use area that will serve as a transition to the core of the city. Maybe the Warehouse District will play that role for DT Durham in the nearest future.

[nothcaylina]

I think you make EXTREMELY valid points about ATC...what a great urban revitilization...that you can't see much from the street!

I think that is just crazy...when you take people there, they are automatically impressed with the restoration..why not integrate that with the surrounding area?

My hope..and I don't know as much about Durham as some others may..is that they can open up the residential component more and integrate the Performing Arts Center u/c into something cohesive.

[Raleigh-NC]

I think that Durham's leaders and boosters were a bit overwhelmed, a few years ago, and for a good reason. They could not say "no" to all those great renovations, nor put some rules in place, in fear of losing the investments. The city leaders should have made it clear that all the restored buildings should include improved facades. It might not have been very easy, but it was doable. Now, it is a bit late. I am counting on the future developments to correct some of the errors of the past.