10 years ago, NC lawmakers forced Durham to annex 751 South. It’s finally happening.

When the North Carolina legislature passed a law forcing the city of Durham to annex a controversial development site in southern Durham County, it set a date 10 years in the future.

That date — June 3, 2023 — is nearly here.

751 South was envisioned as a “live-work-play” neighborhood, a walkable village with parks, shops and a grocery store, perfect for folks who want a tight-knit community and less car-dependent lifestyle. Hundreds already live there

With the neighborhood set to enter the city limits soon, its developer set out to update the conditions in the agreement — asking to add 453 residential units to the 1,300 initially planned, and to pay cash instead of including some affordable housing and providing land for a school and fire station.

“Those provisions don’t make any sense anymore,” Cal Cunningham, a former candidate for U.S. Senate and the attorney representing the project, said in a community meeting. “Times have changed.”

The only people with the authority to approve a new agreement was the Durham City Council, the same body that twice tried blocking the annexation last decade.

What’s in 751 South?

Workers first broke ground on 751 South in 2018.

The development is on 166 acres along N.C. 751 not far from The Streets at Southpoint mall.

There are a few hundred townhomes and single-family homes there today, with more under construction. Apartments also are planned, with market-rate rents.

James Cook said the neighborhood feels like a community, and his family loves that. They’ve been in their townhouse since 2019, relocating from Southern Village, a Chapel Hill neighborhood with a similar concept.

“Now that it’s developing, it’s a cool neighborhood,” Cook said. “It’s a good location, in close proximity to the Tobacco Trail. We love to run and ride our bikes.”

Commercial development is scheduled next and will include a grocery store — not yet identified — and some restaurant and shops around it. The long-term vision also includes a gas station and offices.

Resident Anuradha Sabapathi said she’s eager to see that; it’s the live-work-play concept she bought into.

“None of that has actually been built yet. There are just houses and houses going up,” Sabapathi said in a City Council meeting.

There are wide sidewalks, playgrounds, a fitness center and pool, though some residents want more places to gather.

“There are some parks, but they’re little and there is not a sufficient place to throw a Frisbee or football or hold a town concert,” resident Josh Allen said during the meeting.

How did we get here?

Plans for the mixed-use subdivision were filed in 2008, and the Board of County Commissioners approved a development plan in 2010.

The developer behind 751 South is Alex Mitchell, a North Carolina native who sits on the UNC System Board of Governors.

Mitchell wanted city water and sewer hookups, so he asked to be annexed into the city.

He was denied in 2012, and an attempt by the General Assembly to intervene and force an annexation failed by a single vote.

The Durham City Council shot down another annexation attempt in June 2013 after residents voiced worries the development would pollute Jordan Lake and complicate traffic.

Less than two months later, the legislature overruled most of the Durham delegation and pushed through a law that gave the city no choice but to annex 751 South and provide utilities.

“It was pretty clear that the General Assembly wasn’t going to stop,” former Durham Mayor Bill Bell said at the time, according to The News & Observer archives.

What’s changing?

With the June 3 deadline approaching, the developer submitted a revised plan to the city, which the City Council considered on May 15.

The council approved a long list of changes to the decade-old agreement:

• Increase the maximum number of residential units to 1,753 from 1,300.

• Cut the maximum commercial and office space in half, to 150,000 square feet each.

• The developer won’t pay to widen N.C. 751 to four lanes.

“We’re changing the mix of uses in this development. We’re bringing down the commercial, bringing down the retail,” Cunningham told the council. “We think that’s what the neighbors are asking for.”

Promised land donations were also swapped for cash donations.

• Instead of donating land to build a public school, the developer will pay $1.5 million to Durham Public Schools. DPS officials said they prefer this option, as they wouldn’t be able to put a school there before 2045.

• Instead of donating 0.9 acres for a fire station, give the land to the city with no obligations on what must be built.

An affordable housing change was one of the trickiest to get past the council.

• Instead of making 10% of the units affordable, the developer will pay $3 million into the city’s housing fund. Cunningham said they did build 34 units, but couldn’t make the rest work financially without building parking decks.

Residents will now pay a city property tax in addition to their county tax. They already have fire protection and water and sewer service, but their rates will be cut in half.

They’ll get police protection instead of being served by the Sheriff’s Office. Residents are voting now whether to switch to city trash and recycling services.

What could have happened?

Had council members voted no, the developer would have been legally obligated to abide by the old plan.

“I think the amended (agreement) is much better than the choice that Raleigh has given us,” Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton said. “Light years better,”

The developer was let off the hook for the full scope of traffic improvements, which have nearly tripled in cost to over $19 million from $7 million.

Mitchell said he may never complete the project otherwise.

“If I can’t afford the traffic, there might not be any traffic,” Mitchell told the council. “What I’m asking you to do allows me to move forward.”

“But aren’t you required to do them?” council member Jillian Johnson asked.

“Only as I build the project,” Mitchell replied. “I wouldn’t build it until it made sense financially. I can’t go to the bank and borrow money to build a grocery store. They’re not going to lend me that, plus $15 million for traffic.”

The amount he committed to spending, Mitchell said, he has spent.

“When I signed up for it in 2010, it was $7 million,” he said.

“But you did sign up for it,” Johnson said, smiling. “And that’s why we’re here.”

“I did,” Mitchell smiled back.

The vote on the modified agreement was 6-0, with council member Monique Holsey-Hyman absent.

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