What first may have appeared to be a gigantic gaffe for Blue Devil Ventures is shaping up to be a major move toward implementing its plan to revitalize downtown Durham.
Blue Devil Ventures, a group headed by former Duke basketball stars Brian Davis and Christian Laettner along with businessman Tom Niemann of Durham, plans to overhaul sections of downtown Durham by converting warehouses into upscale apartments. Worries over the group's designs arose Tuesday when J. Adam Abram, owner of the American Tobacco complex, announced that Blue Devil Ventures had failed to meet a deadline for retaining purchase rights for a 24-acre plot off of Blackwell Street.
Davis was unavailable for comment, but he issued statements through Niemann indicating that the lapse was a business decision and not merely a breakdown in communication as originally thought.
"We made a calculated decision to let [American] sit," Niemann said. "Mr. Abram wanted an exorbitant amount of cash for us to continue to hold the property, so we elected to focus our energies... on the first phase of our project. The ball is essentially in his court at this stage, but we still very much want to develop that property."
Blue Devil Ventures' focus has turned to another area of downtown comprised primarily of Liggett & Meyers warehouses, located off Duke and Morgan streets. The Liggett area has been deemed the 'West Village' phase of the project and will eventually be developed as a "mixed use" area, a constraint that encourages a combination of commercial and residential development.
"I think the total focus of Blue Devil Ventures on the Liggett property is actually healthy," said Bill Kalkhof, the head of Downtown Durham, Inc. "The reason I think that is because the first phase will put 206 apartments on the market, and they will lease. And they need to keep their focus on getting that done."
"To hold an option on property like that is expensive, and Blue Devil Ventures needs to be putting all their energy and dollars into the Liggett deal," Kalkhof added. "They'll have a lot more interest and a lot more investors if they do that when they turn to American."
The West Village is the smaller of the two areas, but the success of the project as a whole hinges on its prosperous development. Investors are asking Blue Devil Ventures to put the majority of their $19 million portion of the project into phase one. If the first venture succeeds, outside investments will fund the rest of the project that could amount to $72 million. "We want to follow the advice we're getting from a lot of the business and civic leaders in the area who think its best to focus on phase one and then to turn our attentions a little later in the game," Niemann said.
The original idea behind this venture came from Davis, who lived in an apartment on North Duke Street while he attended the University. Davis envisioned tapping into the downtown market by revitalizing the area, largely through the construction of trendy apartments similar to the one in which he lived. The plan was set into motion once he completed a relatively short career as a professional basketball player.
Once Liggett's portion of the deal is financially set, Blue Devil Ventures will return its focus to the American property. The time table for that is probably in the 12 to 18 month range, but neither Kalkhof nor Niemann are concerned that the second phase will slip through Blue Devil's fingers.
"When Blue Devil Ventures is ready to turn its focus from putting together the financial deal with Liggett... they'll refocus on American, and I don't think anything is going to happen with that property in that time," Kalkhof said. "Should something happen with that property, it can only be positive."
Niemann agreed that any type of change will be beneficial regardless of who initiates it. "If someone else can come along and develop [the American property], we think that's great for downtown," he said. "But we've put down all the infrastructure so where as when we start with phase one, we feel we have the financing and wherewithal to move right across town."
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