Action requested by members of the Walltown Community

Dear Walltown neighbors and Durham residents,

A huge thanks to the many of you who came out to last week’s stakeholder meeting on the redevelopment of Northgate Mall. We believe community members from Walltown and beyond spoke clearly about the needs for: 

1.  Affordable housing
2. Affordable retail
3. Green space for community
4. Environmental sustainability

Walltown’s updated alternative design merges the developer’s plans for a life sciences campus with these community priorities. The plan reflects over four years of input from Walltown, the other six neighborhoods proximate to the mall (Northgate Park, Trinity Park, Duke Park, Trinity Heights, Watts-Hillandale, Old West Durham), and the wider Durham community. 

WHAT’S NEXT → Please Contact City Council Members

The Walltown Community Association is asking Durham residents to contact city council members by email and/or phone by March 1 with the following messages (Feel free to use your own words. This is a guide.)

I live in Durham, and I support Walltown’s plan to include affordable housing and community green space as a part of any redevelopment of Northgate Mall. If you have not seen the plan, please take a look at Walltown.net.  

Affordable housing is important to me and to Durham. This is a rare opportunity to ensure that the Northgate Mall plans reflect what citizens like me want most. The planned life sciences labs and offices will bring hundreds of high-wage earners to the area putting intense pressure on affordable rental and owner-occupied housing in Walltown and the surrounding neighborhoods (property taxes will rise even more, landlords will raise rents).

Redevelopment of the mall is also a once-in-a-generation chance to turn the sea of concrete into a greener space that can better handle the heat and stormwater challenges that already have a disproportionate effect on nearby residents’ health and electricity bills. 

Durham residents - including me - are asking the Council to take bold, decisive action. 

Thank you for your consideration, 

Your Name and Address 

Yours in Community,

Audrey Mitchell, President, Walltown Community Association

Brandon Williams, Chair, Northgate Mall Committee

You can email the entire council at [email protected] or use the individual contact information below.

• Elaine O’Neal (Mayor): 919-560-4333, ext. 10269; [email protected] 
• Javiera Caballero (At-Large): 919-560-4396, ext. 10272; [email protected] 
• DeDreana Freeman (Ward 1): 919-560-4396, ext. 10276; [email protected] 
• Jillian Johnson (At-Large): 919-560-4396, ext. 10278; [email protected] 
• Mark-Anthony Middleton (Ward 2): 919-560-4396, ext. 10277; [email protected] 
• Monique Holsey-Hyman (At-Large): 919-560-4396, ext. 10274; [email protected] 
• Leonardo Williams (Ward 3): 919-560-4396, ext. 10273; [email protected]