The Durham Innovation District, or Durham ID, is coming to downtown Durham, North Carolina.  The project envisions the redevelopment of 15 downtown acres to include one million square feet of new office and laboratory space, 50,000 square feet of retail space and even residential units.  The project has been compared to Kendall Square near Harvard.

The partners in the project describe it as creating a downtown research hub with an emphasis on life science companies.  While "apps" and drone companies and other tech notions might take up residence, it appears the vision is to accommodate the more organic corners of the technical world. Durham is the City of Medicine, after all.

Development partner Longfellow Real Estate Partners says it well, as though channeling Richard Florida:  "You've got institutions like Duke University, Durham Tech, North Carolina Central University, a strong local work force and a tie-in to the greater Triangle area and market.  We [at Longfellow] think all those components together make for a great opportunity."

This is the latest in what has been an exciting Renaissance in real estate and cultural development in Durham, only 20 minutes west of Raleigh.