Just up the street from Durham's long-quiet Northgate Mall, a Charlotte-based developer has started construction on a 267-unit apartment complex that could reshape a key stretch of North Duke Street. The project, dubbed Vara Trinity Park, will wrap around an existing church at 1618 North Duke Street and rise in three separate buildings. For nearby residents, it is shaping up as a real-world test of whether new projects in the neighborhood will actually deliver meaningful affordable housing or just more high-rent units.
Project details and site
As reported by Axios Raleigh, The Spectrum Cos. is moving ahead with 267 apartments spread across three buildings, along with plans for roughly 374 parking spaces and site access from both North Duke Street and West Club Boulevard. The development sits within walking distance of the Northgate Mall property and will drop new housing right next to an area where other developers are pitching a mix of retail and open-space changes.
Affordable units and partners
In a statement to Axios Raleigh, a spokesperson for The Spectrum Cos. said that roughly 20 percent of the apartments are slated for households earning about 60 percent of the area median income. The Durham Housing Authority did not sign off on that exact percentage breakdown but told Axios it “cherish[es] the opportunity to work with public/private partnerships to create new opportunities for affordable housing.”
Where the apartments fit in Northgate's makeover
The new units are landing in the middle of a broader, sometimes messy reimagining of the Northgate area. At the mall site itself, Regency Centers has floated a first phase anchored by a Target that would clear much of the old mall and add surface parking, according to reporting on a Target that would clear much of the old mall. That portion of the nearly 60-acre property can advance under current zoning, while the rest of the land remains divided among multiple owners, making any single, unified plan for housing, open space, and transit access far tougher to pull off.
Neighbors and the city's plan
Long before bulldozers showed up, Durham planning staff and neighborhood groups spent years hammering out the Walltown Small Area Plan, which lays out policy guidance for the former Northgate Mall site and leans hard into “15-minute” community design, affordable housing, and stronger pedestrian and transit links, as detailed in the city's Walltown Small Area Plan. Built from extensive community input, the document explicitly calls for more affordable homes, community-centered gathering spaces, and better walkability throughout the area.
What’s next
Spectrum says construction on Vara Trinity Park is underway, but there is no public timeline for leasing or completion, and other parts of the Northgate overhaul may still need rezoning and public review. For Walltown residents and neighbors, the next wave of permit filings, rezoning requests, and city hearings will be their shot to push for deeper affordability and stronger connections to transit and vital services.
