North Carolina Construction News staff writer
A new development plan with 350 apartments was approved by Durham council during an annexation hearing April 1.
The project, Aura 751, will be built on 12 acres along the west side of N.C. 751, about a mile south of Interstate 40 near The Streets at Southpoint.
Council member Javiera Caballero said opponents were “likely hoping to avoid more diverse and less wealthy residents moving in nearby.
“My interpretation is it comes down to, ‘Oh we don’t want those kinds of folks renting near where I own a home, and that’s just not a value I’m going to support as a council member,” she said. “I think this is exactly what we need in an area that is heavily commercial. It connects residents. It has a strong affordable housing commitment.”
Caballero also highlighted the developer’s commitment to “green building” as a reason to approve the plan.
Texas-based Trinsic Residential Group is developing the project on the site which is zoned for mixed-used residential development.
“What the future growth map framework says is you look at the surrounding area and the housing types that exist and you try to add additional housing diversity through these new developments, so that’s exactly what we’re trying to do here is to add a different product type to what’s offered there. To add needed density to the area, so we’re proposing a multi-family development,” Collier Marsh, a partner with Parker Poe – working on behalf of Dallas-based Trinsic Residential Group, said in a presentation.
The property is located northwest of I-40 and N.C. 54, near where the 4,100-unit Leigh Village Center development is proposed.