The developer for the American Tobacco project has found a likely third tenant, moving forward the project to revitalize downtown by transforming deserted cigarette warehouses into office and commercial space.
Mike Hill, vice president and general counsel for the developer, Capitol Broadcasting Corporation, gave the Durham County Board of Commissioners an update on the project Monday.
"He indicated that they were optimistic about having three tenants that have made some kind of commitment," said commissioner Becky Heron.
Hill could not be reached for comment, but The Herald-Sun of Durham reported Tuesday that he said Capitol had found a tenant who had verbally agreed to open about 50,000 square feet of research laboratories in the complex.
Hill told The Herald-Sun he hoped for a written agreement within the next two weeks. Although he did not name the company, he did specify that it is not GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical company that is also considering leasing space.
Two other tenants, Duke University and software firm Compuware, have already committed to the project.
Capitol exercised its option to buy the American Tobacco property and began preliminary steps to construction on the project last month. All told, the redeveloped campus would provide about 1.1 million square feet, mostly office space but with some retail space and a hotel, as well.
The project could also depend on the construction of a parking deck that would cost about $38 million. The city and county of Durham agreed in principle two years ago to split the cost of the parking deck. Commissioner Ellen Reckhow said she hopes the city, county and Capitol can work out the details formally by April.
Heron suggested that the county look into the possibility of finding a private company to build and operate the parking deck before committing to the parking themselves.
"[The agreement to pay for parking] was two years ago, a little over two years ago, but of course the economy has changed now," she said. "I think the direction that the county is looking is to privatize the parking."
But Reckhow said if a private company were interested in taking on the parking deck, it would probably signify that the county itself could cover the costs of building the deck. "The truth of the matter is, we can do it more cheaply than a private developer," she said.
Reckhow also suggested decreasing the number of spaces in the parking deck by 5 percent by encouraging drivers to car pool or take public transportation.
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