The Board of Orange County Commissioners (BOCC) is set to review a purchase of land on which to build a Crisis Diversion Facility in Hillsborough. Reviewing and approving the Purchase and Sale Contract for the 5-acre parcel is listed as an action item for the board’s meeting on Tuesday, April 15.
This property, located off Waterstone Drive, was selected for its proximity to the UNC Hospitals campus in Hillsborough — its size allowing for a large courtyard and healing garden to be built at the facility, and because it’s already zoned for hospital use. The county found no concerning issues with the property after conducting an extensive review process, which included a Phase I environmental assessment, a geotechnical survey, and a review of the title records.
Map of the selected property and surrounding area in Hillsborough. (Photo via Board of Orange County Commissioners)
The overall purpose of a Crisis Diversion Facility is to provide a place where people can seek help for behavioral health crises somewhere other than a hospital or police station, which people are often hesitant to visit voluntarily and which aren’t designed specifically to help with behavioral crises. The county’s plan is for the facility to provide 24-hour behavioral urgent care to people as young as 4 years old, as well as a resource center that will support housing, social services, food security, harm reduction, and domestic violence intervention.
Orange County approved a contract for a behavioral health crisis diversion facility in 2022 in reaction to a 2019 study on gaps in crisis services in the county. The BOCC authorized the design and construction of the facility in 2023.
The project is intended to support the “Healthy Community” goal of the county’s Strategic Plan, specifically via Objective 1 (“Improve harm reduction, prevention, and support services for adults and children experiencing behavioral health issues, substance use disorder, and intellectual or developmental disability”) and Objective 4 (“Reduce impacts and barriers for justice-involved children and adults through deflection, diversion, therapeutic interventions, and re-entry support, including housing”) of that goal.
The BOCC approved about $2 million to design a Crisis Diversion Facility in the Capital Investment Plan for the fiscal years 2024 to 2034, plus nearly $23 million to build it and $1.1 million to acquire the land for it. After negotiating with the current owners, Capkov Ventures, the county agreed to purchase the property for $1.35 million, with the $250,000 difference being covered by savings in design fees and by using money that had originally been planned to go toward construction costs in the next fiscal year.
If the BOCC approves the purchase of this site, the anticipated schedule for the project would include completing due diligence and finalizing the facility design this spring, completing the land purchase and construction documents in the summer, sorting out the permitting and starting construction by the end of the year, and opening the facility by late 2026 or early 2027.
Featured photo via the Orange County government/CPL.
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