A new development that could add 350 apartments to southern Durham won unanimous approval from the City Council on Monday night, despite surrounding neighborsspeaking out against it.

The project is called Aura 751 and it’s located on 12 acres on the west side of N.C. 751, less than a mile south of Interstate 40 near The Streets at Southpoint.

“We really need single-family homes, not overpriced apartments,” nearby homeowner Rebecca Ives said, citing traffic concerns and skepticism about the design.

Durham leaders, however, want to mix housing types whenever possible, signaling so in a comprehensive plan adopted by the city and county last year.

“So we don’t have one part of Durham that is the apartment area, one part of Durham that is solely single-family residential, and so forth,” principal planner Aaron Cain explained.

Council member Javiera Caballero said some of the opponents were likely hoping to avoid more diverse and less wealthy residents moving in nearby.

“My interpretation is it comes down to, ‘Oh we don’t want those kinds of folks renting near where I own a home,’” Caballero said. “You’re going to be able to walk to a major commercial center; get on a bus that is now free; access jobs … Aldi … Target … I think this is exactly what we need.”

Trinsic Residential Group, based in Texas, is developing the project. They own the handful of Aura properties under construction or leasing in the Triangle.

About 6% of the units, 22 total, will be income-restricted for 30 years after they are built.

• Half at 60% of the area median income, $54,700 for a family of three.

• Half at 80% of the area median income, $72,850 for a family of three.

Townhomes between Durham and Chapel Hill delayed

Later that night, another proposal near the next exit on I-40 was put off until the fall.

The plan, Leigh Valley, calls for a multifamily complex:

• Units: Between 310 and 340 townhomes or apartments.

• Affordable units: A small fraction, 3%, would be income-restricted for 30 years, for those making below 80% of the area median income.

• The land: 29 acres between George King and Wendell roads.

• Developer: Greenhawk Corporation, based in Raleigh.

The property is located northwest of I-40 and N.C. 54, near where the massive 4,100-unit Leigh Village Center development is proposed. Both are in Durham County and seeking annexation into the city limits.

The area was once rural, but landowners have been consolidating properties for years to accommodate growth stretching from both Chapel Hill and Durham.

Monday night, Caballero asked to delay the smaller project until the interior connecting roads are better planned. She asked attorney Nil Ghosh to talk with the team plotting the larger development and regional transportation planners.

“This particular project is mostly good and I want to support it, but I have some reservations,” she said.

Caballero said the project would likely fail if it were voted on Monday.

“We don’t want to build a fragmented community,” Mayor Leonardo Williams agreed.

Ghosh agreed to the delay. It will return to the City Council on Sept. 3.

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