Retail, office, green space, and housing are among the uses being pitched for the Durham Police Department’s current headquarters.
The building will be vacant beginning in fall 2018, when the police department moves into its new complex on Main Street. A team of real estate, design, and development consultants have been surveying the public on how to use the four-acre site and will present two concepts to the city council during their Thursday work session.
Both optionswhich are working concepts intended to jump-start the design processinclude market-rate housing, a small amount of affordable units, parking, office space, retail, and a park.
One scenario updates the existing building, which was designed by the mid-century modernist architect Milton Small and built in 1958 to serve as the office of Home Security Life Insurance. Preservation Durham, Preservation NC, and the Durham Appearance Commission support this idea.
The second demolishes the headquarters. It’s more expensive than the first option (about $99 million versus $70 million), but it would bring in significantly more revenue and create more jobs.
On Thursday, city council members will provide feedback on the use of the space. The next step will be to find a developer.
