Durham rejects Rescue Mission’s plans for a career center near downtown

The Durham City Council voted 6-1 against a proposed career development center near downtown Monday night after getting their first look at what the project could look like

The Durham Rescue Mission and developer McAdams sought to rezone 3.5 acres along South Alston Avenue and South Holman Street, saying the career center would help address homelessness in the city and centralize the Rescue Mission’s operations. The project site is on the eastern edge of downtown near the Rescue Mission’s main campus and shelter.

Mayor Leo Williams and council members Nate Baker, Javiera Caballero, Chelsea Cook, DeDreana Freeman and Carl Rist opposed the rezoning. Council member Mark-Anthony Middleton supported it.

Opponents had said McAdams and the faith-based Rescue Mission had not been transparent about their plans. The limited details had also posed an issue for the Durham Planning Commission, which voted 9-1 in April to recommend the city deny the rezoning.

Rob Tart, a pastor and CEO of the Rescue Mission, told the council before Monday’s vote that homelessness in Durham isn’t “getting any better.”

“Historically, all we’ve done is build more beds,” Tart said. “How many beds can we build, and who are we really helping when we build all these beds?”

In the past three years, the Rescue Mission saw a 40% increase in those who need services. A recent report found an estimated 415 homeless people in Durham County, a 14% increase from 2023.

The Rescue Mission offers emergency, transition, and permanent supportive housing. It also provides food, job training and placement, clothing, education and counseling. Its largest shelter, for men, is at 1201 E. Main St., and a shelter for women and children is on East Knox Street.

The project’s details

Many details shared Monday night, including renderings of the buildings, were new information to residents and the City Council.

Laura Holloman, a representative for McAdams, said the career center would reduce the Rescue Mission’s carbon footprint by minimizing the need for travel to and from different buildings. Currently, classrooms, counselors, retail stores and other services are spread across five locations.

Renderings showed two concrete buildings occupying the entire block bounded by South Alston and Angier avenues and North Holman Street. In total, the buildings spanned over 75,000 square feet. One had a large window on the second story and art on the first floor windows.

Both buildings were being capped at 35 feet tall to remain consistent with other buildings in the area, Holloman said. The development center would offer classroom training for a commercial driver’s license, culinary arts, retail management and graphic arts. The Rescue Mission also wanted to offer on-site training for customer service jobs, Tart said.

The developers said they would plant trees, relocate two old vacant homes on the property, provide a concrete bus landing pad for a future bus stop, and a 6,500 square foot natural area in the southwest corner of Angier Avenue and South Holman Street.

A 6-1 vote

Opponents argued the buildings weren’t inviting enough for the entrance into downtown. They also said the Rescue Mission has not kept up building it aready owns.

“Now they are seeking to rezone the gateway to our community, constantly posing themselves as a moat between East Durham and downtown,” said Aidil Ortiz, an Old East Durham resident. “What people see on Alston when moving into East Durham is a block, a solid, Roblox-looking block.”

Tart pushed back against the criticism.

“The mission has made every effort we can to listen to the community; we want to be good neighbors,” he said. “We’ve listened to the planning department; we want to build something that is commensurate to the neighborhood.”

Rist questioned why the Rescue Mission wanted to change the zoning from Transit Opportunity Area to Mixed Employment, calling it a “down zone.” Transit Opportunity Areas call for shops and other retail spaces on the ground floor of buildings with housing on the upper floors.

“The idea of a Transit Opportunity Area is we’re developing dense corridors that are really dominated by transit, [where] people can walk and so forth to employment, to restaurants,” he explained. “I’m not comfortable with essentially downzoning this to a mixed employment area.”

Freeman said it was “disappointing” to see a “big gigantic box” on Alston Avenue and that she would “love to see a plan that was a little bit more in line with the Transit Opportunity Area.”

Middleton, the only supporter of the proposal and a minister, said he was “disturbed” by the opposition, saying it was based “upon the critique of the proselytizing that people believe goes on at the Durham Rescue Mission.”

Some critics of the Rescue Mission said that to get services there, people need to convert to Christianity. On the Rescue Mission’s website, the organization says it provides Biblical counseling but offers help to anyone.

Williams said he was committed to addressing homelessness but told the developers their project could be improved upon

“I think there is an opportunity here for us to work together,” he said. “I think that what you’re trying to do can actually be larger and bigger and more impactful.”.

This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Durham rejects Rescue Mission’s plans for a career center near downtown."

Kristen Johnson

The News & Observer

919-829-4532

Kristen Johnson is a local government reporter covering Durham for The News & Observer. She previously covered Cary and western Wake County. Prior to coming home to the Triangle, she reported for The Fayetteville Observer and spent time covering politics and culture in Washington, D.C. She is an alumna of UNC at Charlotte and American University.