  So, it took some doing but I finally tracked down what they're building at LaSalle and Erwin Rd. The construction nearest my apartment will be a mixed use area called urlLink Erwin Terrace , and the construction across LaSalle will be “the Lofts at Lakeview”.
The Lofts are luxury apartments and seem a bit crazy. Evidently the bizarre bunker-like structure being built is indeed a parking garage—six stories of parking garage!—and the apartment plans include a gourmet commons, theater room and internet café. A bit hard to picture, and harder yet to price. (All this courtesy Chamber-of-Commerce urlLink online records . ) It seems urlLink Durham has a surprisingly strong electronic presence, and some of the planning documents (e.g. for my neck of the woods, urlLink West Durham ) are interesting. It's nice to get a little insight into how cities are planned. I'm a fan of this trend toward new urbanism—extensive reliance on mixed use areas, generally complemented by green corridors and public transportation—but it almost always connotes gentrification, in practice.
Anyway, there’s no information yet on who my new neighbors will be. At least it’s too small for a Walmart. Ideal would be a corner grocer, a new &amp; used music store, an indy late-night coffee shop, and a decent Thai or Indian place. Ah, ‘twould be heaven. I’ve exhausted my investigative abilities, though: I’ll have to wait-and-see on what we actually get. 
