Incorporated in 1869, Durham is North Carolina’s fourth most populous city with a population of 291,928 (2022 estimate). The 115-square-mile city is a part of the Raleigh-Durham-Cary, NC Combined Statistical Area, which is also known as the Research Triangle.
Anchored by the American Tobacco Company, the city emerged as an early 20th century southern industrial center. Today, it is home to a number of notable institutions of higher education, including Duke University and North Carolina Central University.
Durham’s population has doubled since the 1990s and it is now the state’s second fastest growing city. At the heart of the city, Downtown Durham is one of the hottest locations for residential construction in the Research Triangle. Currently, more than 4,200 multi-family residential units are under construction or planned in downtown.
Recently, The Jaxson had the opportunity to do a quick drive through Downtown Durham. Here’s a visual tour of a rapidly densifying central business district featuring a mix of adaptive reuse and complimentary infill mixed-use development projects.
Click here for State of Downtown Durham 2023 report
The BullHouse Apartments as viewed from Jackie Robinson Drive.
North on South Roxboro Street, just north of the Durham Freeway.
The Van Alen Apartments along South Dillard Street.
555 Mangum is an 11-story, 242,000-square-foot mixed use building completed in 2020.
The intersection of South Dillard and Mangum Streets.
American Tobacco Campus is an adaptive reuse mixed use development encompassing buildings associated with the former American Tobacco Company manufacturing complex. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, many of the office spaces are occupied by Duke University.
Traveling north on Blackwell Street.
The Durham Bulls Athletic Park is a 10,000-seat ballpark that is the home of the Durham Bulls baseball team. The Bulls are a Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball.
A view of Blackwell Street & Diamond View Park with the Durham Performing Arts Center in the background. Completed in 2008, the performing arts center theatre seats 2,712.
The Apartments at American Tobacco.
The intersection of Roxboro and Parrish Streets.
Looking south on North Queen Street.
The 293,000-square-foot Durham County Human Services Complex was completed in 2013.
East Main Street near the First Presbyterian Church.
The 300 East Main Street construction site. When complete, the affordable and market-rate housing project will include a parking facility, 553 apartment units and 30,000-square-feet of retail.
The intersection of East Main Street and Roxboro Street.
The Durham County Courthouse at 200 East Main Street was built in 1917.
The 168,000-square-foot Durham County Administration II Building was completed in 2018.