The future of Research Triangle Park (RTP) may look and operate more like a small town than a corporate campus.
On Thursday, stakeholders from the Triangle’s public and private sector gathered to commemorate the launch of RTP 3.0, a blueprint for the next phase of the 7,000-acre research campus, and officially open applications for development. The new plans center on a live-work-play model that creates an opportunity to bring thousands more residential housing units and commercial fixtures to the area, which currently hosts mainly industrial uses.
“Ultimately, this framework is about ensuring that RTP remains one of the most competitive, innovative, and collaborative research parks in the world,” Gina Andersen, RTP site engagement lead for Cisco and president of the RTP Owners & Tenants Association said at a Thursday press conference. “We’re excited to see what’s possible for our companies, institutions, and future generations for decades to come.”
This isn’t the first time RTP has reimagined its campus. In 2012, a new master plan introduced mixed-use development opportunities for the first time, giving way to the development of food and retail at Boxyard RTP, coworking at the Frontier, apartments at MAA Nixie, and a mixture of meeting space and restaurants at the Horseshoe, all part of the Hub RTP.
The Hub has been marketed as “the downtown of the largest research park in the United States,” according to the site’s website as well as speakers at the press conference. But the full scope of RTP’s next phase suggests a more transformative undertaking that will shift the geography of the region.
Durham Planning Commissioner Diana Neunkirchner said during a presentation by the Research Triangle Foundation (RTF) on RTP 3.0 last October that the plan was “so comprehensive, it’s like you’re making a city.”
The land area of RTP is about half the size of the island of Manhattan. RTP and local government officials estimate around 45,000 people could move into it in the coming decades based on current population growth projections. That’s more than the population of eight county seats in North Carolina, and encroaching on the size of nearby Fuquay-Varina and Holly Springs.
“A big part of the reason for RTP 3.0 is in response to regional growth efforts,” Travis Crayton, vice president of Planning and Public Policy at RTF, the nonprofit that oversees governance of RTPk, told the INDY. “Part of the conversation, especially with our local elected officials, was how can the park positively contribute to some of the challenges that come with growth.”
But that growth won’t happen instantaneously. RTP 3.0 is a decades-long vision that Crayton said is designed to be adaptable to changing needs and market forces.
“I don’t think it is likely that overnight you’re going to have significant residential units magically appear,” Crayton said, “but that is integrated into our vision. We can accommodate a pretty significant amount of residential over the long term. So as our market continues to grow, as we continue to see people moving here and who are in need of housing, RTP is now a place where that housing can be located under RTP 3.0.”
Planning for a revitalized campus began in the fall of 2021. Stakeholders, including 400 companies based in RTP, RTF, and local government and university officials, held numerous meetings over the last five years to develop the new vision. In 2025, those 400 companies voted unanimously to approve new development codes and design guidelines that would govern the future land use at RTP. Later that year, Durham and Wake County Commissioners signed off on the proposal when each board voted to approve the zoning amendments necessary to bring RTP 3.0 to life.
“One of the reasons Durham County unanimously supported the zoning changes that helped advance RTP 3.0 is because the framework aligns closely with the goals and values reflected in Durham’s Unified Development Ordinance and broader planning priorities.” said Durham County Board Chair Mike Lee. “RTP 3.0 embraces many of the same principles our community has prioritized: smart growth, walkability, multimodal transportation options, environmental stewardship, economic opportunity, and vibrant mixed-use environments.”
After graduating from college in 1997, Lee began his professional career at IBM, one of RTP’s earliest and long-tenured tenants. A big advantage for RTP companies is the extensive network of universities that feed into the Triangle’s workforce year after year; North Carolina State University Chancellor Kevin Howell, who shared remarks on behalf of the UNC school system on Thursday, said that more than 256,000 students are enrolled in the system’s 17 institutions across the state. RTP leaders hope that adapting amenities to a more all-encompassing lifestyle will keep the Triangle competitive with the next generation of potential employees.
“RTP has helped keep that talent in the great state of North Carolina for generations, and the future competitiveness of this region depends on continuing to attract and retain the best and the brightest,” said Howell.
RTP sits between two counties (Durham and Wake) and three separate municipalities (Raleigh, Durham, and Morrisville). Add in the dozens of landowners and stakeholders that include regional universities like Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, NC State and North Carolina Central University, and RTP 3.0 will be a complicated, collaborative undertaking.
Adding tens of thousands of people to the southeast corner of Durham County will shift the region’s center of gravity. Thousands of new homes have already been approved in adjacent neighborhoods like Carpenter-Fletcher and Parkwood. In city council meetings, some residents of those neighborhoods have raised concerns over ecological impacts of that development, and the strain on services like police, fire, and EMS. Durham County, where the majority of RTP is located, will likely be on the hook for providing those additional services.
Building what could amount to a 45,000-person community almost from scratch will require expansive thinking about what infrastructure, services, and amenities are necessary to accommodate growth at that scale. The design guidelines established by RTP 3.0 create three new development options: enhanced corporate campus, residential neighborhood development, mixed-use node. Each expands the types of development that are possible inside the boundaries of RTP. The residential neighborhood development type specifically adds accommodations for civic uses like libraries and public schools, essential aspects of community living.
In addition to those zoning changes, RTF is working with private landowners and local governments to facilitate expansion of the growing network of transportation options in and around RTP. The vision plan includes designs for a 10-mile greenway that runs north-south and acts as a spine along the entire campus, making it easily accessible by walking or biking. A regional transportation center is also planned for RTP that would connect multiple bus routes and bike paths between Durham and Wake counties.
In 1959, local leaders took a gamble on building what became a world-class research campus. With the launch of RTP 3.0, RTP and its partners are making that same bet on the next 50 years of innovation in the Triangle.
“The founders of RTP imagined possibilities that many thought were beyond reach,” said Barbara Mulkey, chair of the Research Triangle Foundation Board of Directors. “Their vision transformed North Carolina and created opportunities for generations. Our responsibility now is to be equally ambitious about what lies ahead, and equally committed to working together to achieve it.”
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