The city has nine run-down houses on Piedmont Avenue slated for the Southside revitalization project, but its planned spending to renovate them has raised some City Council eyebrows.

“I do think it’s super-high,” said Councilwoman Diane Catotti.

“When you include land purchase, we’re approaching $200,000 a unit – call it $180,000,” said Councilman Eugene Brown, who owns a real estate company. “This really seems excessive to me.”

The median new-home price in Durham, he said, is $169,000.

There’s nothing final yet; those cost estimates are from a prospective developer’s proposal, Community Development Director Reginald Johnson and Assistant Director Larry Jarvis told the City Council last week. And though the proposal they favor is the most expensive, per unit, of four submitted, they said it would actually be the cheaper for taxpayers – $645,000 versus about $1.2 million for the next best offer.

The nine houses, six single-family and three duplexes, are among 71 Southside parcels the city is buying from Self-Help Community Development. Last summer, the city solicited proposals for what to do with them.

City staff favors a Durham Community Land Trustees plan to renovate six houses while tearing down and rebuilding three to produce 11 units for rent to low-income tenants. Estimated average cost was $145,455 per unit, not counting the cost of land acquisition.

Their second choice, from Community Alternatives for Supportive Abodes (CASA), proposed demolishing all nine houses and replacing them with 22 new apartments in four buildings. Estimated cost was $123,861 per unit.

“I’d rather go with 22 new units,” said Brown.

DCLT’s total $1.6 million financing plan consists of a $400,000 market-rate loan, $500,000 from the N.C. Housing Finance Agency, a $55,000 foundation grant and $645,000 from the city. The city has $300,000 available from the new penny-for-housing tax, Jarvis said, and can reallocate money from another, stalled contract to cover most of the rest.

CASA’s proposal would total $2.7 million. Under its financing plan, which includes the NCHFA $500,000, the city would need to come up with about $1.2 million. That much is not in anyone’s budget and besides, Jarvis said, the 11-unit Land Trustees’ project is “shovel ready.”

“We wanted to minimize the time the city was holding these properties,” Johnson said.

With Brown dissenting, the council authorized negotiations with the Land Trustees. “We have to come back with a more detailed plan and a contract,” said Johnson.

“We need more dialogue,” said Brown. “Very few people are cognizant of what we’re doing here.”