American Tobacco Plan Approved By City And County
CBC is renovating the 16-acre American Tobacco Campus to help breathe life into downtown Durham. |
Capitol Broadcasting Company got a big boost this week in its renovation project of the American Tobacco Campus in downtown Durham. Both the county commissioners and the City Council of Durham voted unanimously to spend $43.2 million to build parking decks to help support the compound.
The approval for the parking deck adds fuel to the already progressing project to revitalize downtown Durham. The 16-acre American Tobacco Campus has anchor tenants, Compuware and Duke University, signed on to lease space. The finished complex should bring an estimated 3,600 jobs to the Bull City and will be a magnet for other development, including the possibility of a theater near the Durham Bulls ballpark, in place of the old DATA bus garage on Blackwell Street.
When completed, the American Tobacco Campus will be the largest historic renovation project ever in North Carolina. Currently, environmental clean-up is underway on the property, and construction should begin in October.
“I think in ten years we’ll look back and remember this project as one that ignited downtown Durham,” said County Manager Mike Ruffin.
