Commerce Street Apartments groundbreaking for more affordable housing

Acting Secretary of HUD and Durham officials at the groundbreaking.Photo byAlex Bass/Tribune

By Alex Bass

Alex.bass@triangletribune

DURHAM – Acting U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Adrianne Todman joined Durham leaders and residents last week for the groundbreaking of Commerce Street Apartments. For Durham Mayor Leo Williams and U.S. Rep. Valerie Foushee, it was their second affordable

housing groundbreaking within 24 hours.

“Commerce Street embodies our commitment to creating vibrant, inclusive communities that cater to the needs of residents of all ages and incomes,” Laurel Street Residential President/CEO Dionne Nelson said. “We are proud to continue our efforts to increase the vitality of the east side of downtown Durham through Commerce Street and our other new developments on East Main Street."

Commerce Street Apartments will be another Durham project for Charlotte-based Laurel Street, which finished The Acadia (82 units) in 2023. The development will benefit from collaborative partnerships including CVS Health and the Durham Housing Authority. The DHA will be able to facilitate on-site programming and services to meet residents’ needs in career training, education, food, health care and transportation, among others.

“We are so proud of this development and it being the first phase of our $40 Million Choice Neighborhood Initiative Grant awarded in 2022,” DHA CEO Anthony Scott said. “This is a continuation of many exciting new communities, and we’re thrilled to see this progression and celebrating the milestones with our partners and community.”

The mixed rates housing model includes approximately one-half of 172 units earmarked for residents at least 62 years of age. Nearly one-third of the units are designated for residents/families earning less than three-fifths of the average annual salary.

“We can be so innovative and intentional, and so proud about it,” Williams said.

The DHA and the City of Durham are partners in the Durham Choice program. Among the program’s articulated goals is ensuring anyone displaced by a public housing revitalization project - like Commerce Street Apartments - will have an opportunity to return to the same community. The apartments will link Durham’s history and future per its proximity to the Hayti Heritage District, along with on-site computer facilities integral to mitigating technology divides. Nearly 40% of financing for the project’s $58.3 million ledger came from greater Durham entities.

Durham is one of two North Carolina cities to receive HUD Choice Neighborhoods Implementation Grants since 2010. Winston-Salem received $30 million for public housing revitalization during the 2019 fiscal year. "Stable housing is a basic human need. It is the foundation upon which people build their lives," Foushee said. "It is one of the most important factors contributing to prosperity and mobility."