Durham Tech to build affordable housing complex near campus

Durham Tech announced on Tuesday a $29 million project to help create an equitable community. The community college is planning to build a124 affordable housing units at 902 South Briggs Avenue, right across from campus.

“This is not about a project. It’s about people," said J.B. Buxton, president of Durham Tech. "It’s not about a series of buildings we’re going to be able to construct. It’s about basic human needs."

In 2019, Durham passed a $95 million affordable housing bond to address critical housing needs. Around that same time, Durham Tech leaders brainstormed ways they could provide solutions too.

“Two years ago, Durham Tech set out to address what it could do to be apart of the solution for the affordable housing crisis in Durham,” Buxton said. “The board identified a parcel of land that we owned on South Briggs Avenue to locate an affordable housing community that we can use to serve our students and the broader community."

Shima Earls said that she was both trying to search for affordable housing while also pursing a degree at Durham Tech.

"It was like moving from house to house, trying to find somewhere safe to stay for me and my children," she said.

A 2019 survey of more than 700 Durham Tech students conducted by the Hope Center for College Community and Justice at Temple University found that more than 50% of students had experienced some form of housing insecurity the year prior and nearly 20% reported being homeless for at least some portion of that timeframe.

Earls said she was living in a condemned home at the time with her children, when finally one day, she came to Durham Tech's office and asked for help.

“After living there and having violence every day, I finally went to the office and told them that I would rather live in my car than to stay there,” she said.

The college helped her find permanent housing at McDougald Terrace on Lawson Street in Durham.

“Having affordable housing is so necessary for students and parents," Earls said. "It’s like lifting a weight off your shoulders, when you don’t have to worry about where you going to live, or if you’re going to be put out next month, or anything like that."

The college is developing a mix of one, two and three bedroom units for students and Durham residents. More than half of all the apartment units will have two bedrooms, around a fourth will be three bedrooms and 19% will have one bedroom.

“We see this as a critical part of building equitable housing communities, and having equitable development in this location,” Buxton said.

Two years ago, the Durham Tech Foundation established Durham Tech Properties LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary, to help lead the project. Durham Tech Properties is partnering with Mosaic Development Group and Bank of America Community Development Company, which were selected through a competitive process to develop the site.

“It’s hard for people to go out and do great things if they’re not coming from a secure safe home base. I think that’s almost impossible,” said Sarah Poehlig, a Durham Tech graduate.

The goal is to open leasing applications in Fall 2024. The monthly costs for the units have not yet been determined.