The Chancellory: Time to support it

Legal notice was in the paper yesterday regarding the Board of Adjustment hearing for the Chancellory on Tuesday 7/24. When that name was chosen last year, I thought it sounded too overwrought for a condo project. However, as the Drama in the Park has transpired, it seems oddly fitting for the soap operatic twists and turns this project has been through.

I won't review all of that, but much has happened since I first analyzed this project and site back in January. And to some extent, I don't really care about what has happened in between. New renderings have been produced, and the developer sounds ready to sign what commitments are necessary to ensure that what is rendered is what is built. The project is now a significant improvement over the original; my only concern at that time was the 7-story height on the southeast side. The project has been reduced to 3 stories at the northwest corner and 4 1/3 at the other corners.


Watts St. elevation, looking east.


Lamond St. elevation, looking south.

The project now reminds me a great deal of the Beverly Apartments that were directly across Watts from the project site (on the west side of Watts.)


Beverly Apts., looking northwest from Watts and Morgan.

The size of the historic building isn't really fully apparrent from the above photo. The photos below give a sense of how the historic building related to its surround. It was present before any of the other houses in that block of Watts.


The Beverly Apts from downtown. The Liggett complex is in the foreground, the Beverly Apts. in the mid-ground and Duke East Campus in the distance.


The view from the under-construction New Cigarette Factory across Brightleaf, looking west-northwest. The apts. are just beyond the crane to the left.

I post these to convey that this part of Trinity Park is now shorter and less dense than it was historically. I did not have a problem with the density on the original plan, and I still don't. This is going to be a transitional block between the ever-burgeoning business district at Brightleaf and the neighborhood. I don't think it will be little houses - the developer's basis in the land is $1.5 million. I don't think the alternative is going to be a project that a greater percentage of the neighborhood is happy with.

I believe in urbanity in the city, and this is it. It's good for all of 'in-town' Durham, and good for our greenfield areas to do urban density infill.

I spoke with Steve Ortmann about the new renderings and asked whether he was ready to commit, through some binding arrangement with the neighborhood, to build what is pictured. He said yes. If that's true, I would hope that the neighborhood would support this project at this point.