There are some examples from early last year, maybe end of 2019 that have some pretty decent renderings of what downtown would look like, I don’t recall what thread they were in.
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Thanks I’ll do some digging!
This is not true and has been discussed here many times before. Sure, this crap is getting built everywhere, but it’s not the only thing getting built, and it’s certainly not the only way to build affordably. Quality design does not need to be unaffordable. Developers will try to get away with the bare minimum unless more is expected of them.
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Thanks for linking that! I just think this phase is “what’s in” right now and people are still eating it up so it’ll continue to happen until people or the city council start demanding different.
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People are eating it up because they have to if they want to rent downtown. There’s an extremely limited supply of housing, and little to no variety in the rental market. But notice how whenever one of these buildings is proposed, it’s widely decried because they all look the same.
I think it’ll improve with time as our market gets more competitive. Even Durham’s starting to see some nicer 5-over-1s.
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Dang those are really nice. Gotta think they’d be in the next tier price wise compared to the traditional looking ones. We’ll see what happens but we do have some decent looking ones with the Dillion and over at Smoky Hollow
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Woof. At first I was hoping this was an April fools gag. I feel like I’m watching Homer unveil that car he designed for his brother’s company.
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Wow, hadn’t seen those Geer House renderings, and was wondering if that project was still happening. I love it! Definitely different, and MotorCo is remaining. I’m sure all the hipster social justice warriors in Durham will hate it. Which makes me happy 
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please someone tell me that this is an April Fools joke.
At least it’s not an exposed parking deck? 🤷
I’m a social justice warrior and I like it! Lol maybe I just have taste 
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I meant that mostly in jest, so hopefully no offense. I actually agree with a lot of the “social justice” goals. There’s just a small, vocal group in Durham that seems to hate everything. Every new building should be denied because not everyone can afford to live or eat or shop there. The beautiful historic gravel parking lots and junkyards are being erased. Nothing can be opened safely because of the pandemic. Etc, etc. There’s no ability to discuss or change minds, so it just gets old.
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No I totally get it! In my mind, you can’t have progress without having progress in terms of development if that makes sense. Nobody wants to live in a bland city where nothing changes.
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The NIMBYs that control the CAC narrative say “hold my beer”.
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It’s going to be stark white? 
First I thought it was an outline, but there is some random coloring elsewhere, So I guess it’s a giant white building that will look hideous as it gets dirty over time. WTF.
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Yep. It’s a quasi-cult that’s “cool” to be in, if you ask me.
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Here’s a TBJ article about this project. The project was changed in part because the lender didn’t like the school being a tenant despite the developer feeling very confident about it.
There are still plans to eventually build an office component but there’s no timeline.
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The new updates on the BRT studies included a preview on the soon-to-be-released manual on making dense, walkable developments happen along the Western Blvd. BRT corridor. This actually includes the block right next to the plots of land for this thread -and could propose an interesting rearrangements to roads and intersections.
Just to be clear, though: this report hasn’t been released for public comment, yet; it’s just a part of a whole suite of BRT-related progress updates.
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Also…Dont know where this would go but the Salisbury Street towers I mentioned last year is about to start back up. I dont have details about any design changes yet but will post when I do
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That’s awesome news! It would probably go in this topic here:
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