Sandy Ridge - June Groundbreaking in Review
- Amalia Rizos
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
As Durham navigates rapid growth, maintaining the historic fabric of its neighborhoods requires intentional, community-centered design. In the heart of North Durham's Bragtown neighborhood, last week’s groundbreaking ceremony for Sandy Ridge made one thing perfectly clear to everyone in attendance: this development is already having a profound impact on the community.
Five years in the making, Sandy Ridge delivers 198 fully affordable, income-restricted rental units divided into two distinct phases: Sandy Ridge Station and Sandy Ridge Villas. What makes this project incredibly unique for our office is its integration as a 100% Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) development embedded inside a broader master plan—the Carver Street Assemblage. While the surrounding development features market-rate townhomes, single-family homes, and apartments, the adjacent Sandy Ridge ensures that high-quality, stable housing remains seamless and accessible to working individuals and families within the same neighborhood fabric.
A 150-Year Legacy: Deep Roots in Bragtown
To understand the true significance of Sandy Ridge, you have to understand the history of the land it sits on. Bragtown is a proud, historic 150-year-old community with deep roots in Durham. Following emancipation, many families left Stagville—historically the largest plantation in North Carolina—and settled in this area, establishing a community built on resilience and mutual support. Today, that legacy is actively protected by the Bragtown Community Association (BCA), ensuring Bragtown maintains its essential place in Durham’s story.
For Sandy Ridge, community input wasn't a checkbox at the end of the design phase—it was the foundation from day one. The BCA hosts a monthly neighborhood meeting that serves as the heartbeat of local advocacy. Our team became regular fixtures at these meetings during the early stages of the rezoning process, working alongside the developer, Ted Heilbron with Kelley Development Company, to listen to neighbors' visions for their community.
This transparent partnership turned potential zoning hurdles into a shared victory. During the groundbreaking ceremony, BCA members expressed deep gratitude to Ted for truly listening, sharing a powerful sentiment that became the guiding theme of the project: "Change should include everyone." Local neighbors actively showed up to support Sandy Ridge at the city's rezoning hearings, providing a groundswell of vital support that ultimately secured the project's approval.
Equity and Opportunity for Durham's Workforce
The core philosophy behind Sandy Ridge is to deliver a safe, welcoming environment that shatters any old stigmas surrounding affordable housing. This community is built to the exact same high standards and quality of any market-rate housing in the region.
Sandy Ridge is designed specifically for Durham's workforce—the local teachers, healthcare workers, and everyday service providers who make 30% to 70% of the area median income. The architecture, detailing, and layout are intentionally designed to mirror premium residential developments, offering top-tier outdoor amenities and a sensible, secure place to live. The goal is to provide an exceptional quality of life where residents feel an undeniable sense of pride, security, and belonging.
The LIHTC Engineering Challenge
Developing a LIHTC project within a larger, market-rate master plan introduced highly specific state and federal regulatory constraints. To secure and maintain critical tax credit funding, state requirements dictate that the affordable housing components sit entirely on their own distinct, legally separated parcels.
This requirement handed our civil engineering and land planning teams their biggest technical hurdle (and at Qunity, we love a technical challenge!): managing stormwater runoff for two entirely different legal entities right next to each other. Our team had to design and calculate the exact mechanisms to operate two separate stormwater management systems side-by-side. We successfully engineered an infrastructure solution that satisfies LIHTC guidelines while visually maintaining a cohesive connection across the property lines.
"It Takes a Village": A Collaborative Milestone
As speakers noted at the groundbreaking, affordable housing truly "takes a village." Sandy Ridge represents a massive collaborative effort backed by a $10 million public investment. The North Carolina Housing Finance Agency (NCHFA) served as the backbone of the development, providing critical financing through tax credits and bond credits. The Durham Housing Authority (DHA) also stepped up as a vital partner. Eric Swan of the DHA highlighted a major milestone for local housing equity: 51 families currently living in Oxford Manor—an aging housing community just down the road—will be able to transition into these freshly built, modern Sandy Ridge homes.
The groundbreaking ceremony brought together community members and city leaders alike to celebrate the milestone. Councilmember Matt Kopac spoke passionately about how vital this project is for Durham’s future, while Councilmember Carl Rist and Mayor Leonardo Williams joined the team on-site, picking up a shovel for the official groundbreaking moment.
Our firm has guided Sandy Ridge through every single phase of development, offering a start-to-finish suite of services including initial sketch plans, complex rezoning, detailed site planning, construction documentation (CDs), and ongoing construction administration (CA). With an anticipated one-year build cycle, we look forward to seeing these families move into their new homes next summer.
Development Team
Developer: Bradley Development; Kelley Development Company
Civil Engineer, Land Planner, & Landscape Architect: Qunity
Land Use Attorney: Patrick Byker, Morningstar Law Group
Land Surveyor: Triangle Surveyors
Architect: Ci Design, Inc.
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