February 23rd was the first meeting of the 505 Working Group (505WG) convened by the City to hear community/expert input on the prospects for affordable housing at 505 West Chapel Hill Street.

GOAL: The 505WG is a collaborative team of community advocates and experts working with City Staff. The purpose is to find a path forward for the start of affordable housing on the 505 West Chapel Hill Street site as soon as possible. 

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN OBSERVING AT THESE MEETINGS PLEASE CONTACT PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE AT [email protected] AND WE WILL HELP MAKE THAT HAPPEN.

Topics at First Meeting

1. We settled the question of whether a City ground lease could work (YES)
2. Parking: We made it clear that it's not impossible to come up with a plan to meet LIHTC requirements to maintain parking for the AH residents if 505 is developed in phases. Parking adjacent to the street will not be a problem. Off-site parking owned by the City (corner Duke/Main) may be available. And, it is very likely that the parking requirement for AH can be 1 space/resident (not 1.75).
3. Process: City Attorney Aarin Miles confirmed that the City is not required to use an RFP process to choose a developer. (And, incidentally, DHIC will not be disqualified because it is participating.)
4. Agreement that the Milton Small Building process will be long (developer search alone will be up to 2 years), rehab will be complicated and expensive, and there's no guarantee it will be successful or that the City will have subsidy.
5. 9% LIHTC deals in 2026 can be used for up to 120 units. The City does not know of any 2027 LIHTC applications in process. We'll need to monitor this.
6. General agreement on the viability of a mixed income building -- 80/60/30 % AMI -- which is allowed under LIHTC.
7. Next week we'll dig into "massing" (what will fit on the site), starting with a look at past proposals.

Members of this group are as follows (apologies for the lack of some of the names of participants)

Ketty Tellamaque - (Durham CAN)

Yolanda Winstead (DHIC)

Gregg Warren (DHIC)

Sherry Taylor (DCLT)

Ted Heilbron (Kelley Devt Co.) 

Stacey Poston (Durham City Staff)

Rick Larson (Durham CAN, 505 Coalition)

Staff from Perkins & Will