Brightleaf Square is a mixed-use complex of retail, dining, art galleries, and office space in downtown Durham, North Carolina, United States. Located at the intersection of West Main and Gregson Streets, Brightleaf Square is the namesake of the Bright Leaf Historic District - a 340-acre (1.4 km2) campus comprising primarily historic tobacco warehouses.[1]
Brightleaf Square occupies the former Watts and Yuille tobacco warehouses, which were built from 1900 to 1904 by the American Tobacco Company. Designed in an Italianate style and constructed with ornate brick exteriors, these buildings were originally used for storing, aging, and fermenting tobacco for cigarette manufacture.
In 1911, following the antitrust suit against the American Tobacco Company, and eventual dissolution of the company, the tobacco warehouses were bought by the Liggett & Myers Tobacco Company and continued being used for their intended purpose until 1970.
In 1980, the SEHED Development Corporation bought the buildings and began renovating them in order to accommodate commercial use. The complex underwent further renovations in 2004.[2]