New tall building on downtown YMCA site?

Has anybody heard anything about a (rumored) 20+ story building on the downtown YMCA site on Morgan St? I searched the forums but nothing jumped out.

I don’t know anything at all but I do find this rumor curious in conjunction with the talk from a few weeks ago of a supposed 30 story tower in development that would evidently not be at the South Bank site or ATC2. Hmmm.

Also haven't heard anything. Where did you hear about it?

have not heard but i'm here for the rumors!

I have not heard anything to this effect, but that large parking lot right behind the YMCA parking lot has some serious potential long-term. I really hope that gets redeveloped into something substantial.

That parking lot is literally halfway between downtown Main Street and full steam and motoroco, it needs to be an awesome development to tie the two together to turn Durham downtown into one seamless street experience. So much coolness could happen!

For right now I'll just say a friend who has a contact in the YMCA, so everything is 2nd-hand. My friend pointed out that nothing has been signed yet. With that caveat, what my friend says is that the plan is for a 20+ story building on the YMCA lot. Construction expected to require 2 years but the downtown YMCA would return, 1 1/2 times its current size, embedded in the new building.

No other details, including what else would be in the building other than speculation that it would be the usual office, commercial, residential combination, and that there would be some retail on the 1st floor.

I wonder if this is same thing: http://forum.buildingbullcity.com/New-30-story-tower-for-Durham-td294.html

Although big difference in 20 and 30

I spoke with someone this morning who has...reasonable insight into the situation. They said that there are tons of rumors, but they’re not without reason. The Y recently put out an RFP, for which many bids came back proposing vertical growth on the site. They said that seems most likely (perhaps even the 20+ variety), but nothing has been agreed to, signed, or even stated as a preference. They said the chief use of the site will be to “benefit all of Durham, not just as a part of the Y’s mission.”

Some more second hand, but at least promising to hear parts of the rumor are true!

I was browsing Loopnet and came across this flyer for land across from the 949 Washington project.
 
https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/fzXjFT2tb3snStv7G7vGVmFRdlSOT8v7q1dp8Ucl7Eg/948WashingtonTeaserfinal.pdf

On page 6:
Two following large, mixed-use projects are planned:
YMCA Redevelopment – mixed-use building including a new YMCA,
residential, and office towers at the site of current downtown YMCA

Wow, very interesting find. It would appear to be a pretty recent document based on some of the information referenced.

Just came across this tweet from yesterday. Anyone heard anything about what form this might take?

https://mobile.twitter.com/WRALSarah/status/1490708081684230147?cxt=HHwWhsC9icXGh7ApAAAA

Nothing publicly available yet via the Durham website (permits, zoning cases, etc).

Could be really exciting, though!

Thought it was notable that the brief text said construction would start “no earlier than fall 2022” and would be a multi-year project which hopefully signifies something substantial. Even if it’s just a reasonable amount of residential on top of a new Y.

WOW 27 story tower and 11 story office building on the site per TBJ.

https://www.bizjournals.com/triangle/news/2022/02/09/east-west-partners-durham-ymca-development.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_45&cx_artPos=2#cxrecs_s

Wow - this is big (both the news and the building).

Pipe dream: McDonald's does a similar deal with a developer on the next block.

At some point, enough pressure has to build that fixing the loop becomes necessary, right?

This looks really exciting. Agreed on both the McDonalds and the loop.

I'm curious about why it is that TBJ always seems to scoop the Herald-Sun on things like this.

I have been really impressed with Caleb at TBJ. If he had been around earlier, I probably never would have started this blog, as it initially started out as a way to document the new projects around Durham. He definitely does a great job at that.

The Herald was busy covering important stories like what you can expect to pay for Valentine’s Day flowers in the Triangle and running a March Madness-style bracket for best local chicken wings.

Found a bit more info on the new YMCA complex. There's a PDF with more details within the site. Just can't get the direct link to work.

https://www.avisonyoung.us/properties?propertyId=218-w-morgan-street-durham-lease