The Occasional Asheville Thread

[hauntedheadnc]

Back when Matthew and I were regularly contributing to an Asheville news thread, nobody ever read it, but there's just been too much going on here lately that's at least mildly interesting. For instance, one of the area's largest employers just celebrated its 75th birthday. Biltmore House opened its doors to the public in March of 1930. Here's an article about just how Biltmore affects the Asheville area.

---

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/20/05)

In many ways, Biltmore House is the face Asheville presents to the world; happy 75th anniversary

No private home means more to, or is as deeply connected to, its community.

Of course, no private home in America is as big.

Welcome to the Biltmore House, which just marked its 75th anniversary.

It’s hard to understate just how awash in history the Biltmore House is. George Vanderbilt decided to build the home in 1888, and wound up purchasing 125,000 acres of land here. The designer of Central Park in New York City, Frederick Law Olmsted, was tapped for the landscaping at the house, and construction of the 250-room home began in 1889. Vanderbilt narrowly dodged the historic disaster of the Titanic in 1912 (he canceled his booking at the last minute; his valet died in the tragedy) only to die two years later following an appendectomy. The following year Mrs. Vanderbilt sold nearly 90,000 acres of land that would later form the heart of Pisgah National Forest. In 1930 the home was opened to the public; it was closed during World War II, but played a vital role in housing some of the nation’s art treasures.

It reopened in 1945, but was somewhat of a money pit. When William Cecil returned to Asheville in 1945, the house was losing a quarter of a million dollars a year. In 1963, it was named a National Historic Landmark. Five years later Biltmore House recorded its first profit, a total of $16.24.

Needless to say, things have changed.

The Biltmore House has been refurbished, with more rooms opening over the years. The Biltmore Co. now employs 1,500 people, includes the most-visited winery in America and pays more than $11 million in taxes. Its annual payroll (not including benefits) tops $30 million. It hosts more than 850,000 visitors a year, including around two-thirds of the first-time visitors to Asheville. All told, the Biltmore House likely pumps $1 billion into the local economy when things like the meals, gas and hotel rooms visitors pay for are factored in.

It is an economic colossus for Western North Carolina, rivaled in importance only by the beautiful mountains that are its setting. It’s a far cry from what it was.

But in many important ways, it’s the same. Most families with deep roots here have their stories to tell about working on the estate or growing up on milk from the Biltmore Dairy. The Biltmore House is still a good neighbor to the community. It continues, through fame gained by being the set for many a movie and for its well-groomed gardens, to be the face Asheville presents to the world, and an impressive face it is.

Beyond that, it is sort of the dream industry. Think if you were an industrial recruiter here, and were told to bring in a business that:

* Would employ 1,500 people;

* Would not require tax incentives but actually pay taxes;

* Is environmentally friendly;

* Would help support another important industry (tourism);

* And would serve as a public relations ambassador for the area.

If you were given that assignment as an industrial recruiter, you’d probably resign (after you finished laughing your head off).

Fortunately, such a business already exists.

It’s called “America’s castle,” and we wish it a happy 75th anniversary as an important cog in the area’s economic engine.

[Matthew]

Biltmore is both good and bad. Some visit Biltmore and nothing else. I encourage visiting Downtown, but Biltmore is designed as a multi-day vacation with on site hotel, winery, multiple house and grounds tours, horseback riding and other adventures. It leaves little time to explore the rest of the city. When I tell people I'm from Asheville, they say "yeah, that's where Biltmore House is! I've been there." If someone isn't sure where Asheville is, I just tell them "it's where Biltmore House is" and they know. You can have lots of fun here and never set foot on the Biltmore grounds. Just ask one of us for ideas before you visit. This house is extremely expensive to visit. I will also say that those of us who live here, including myself, often over-look this great asset and it's effect on our local economy.

When my Grandmother and Cody visited us in Arden about a year ago, I took them to Biltmore Estate. I shared the adventure on the thread (America's Largest House) in January 2004. They were both impressed. We (my Mom, Sister and I) have tried to talk my Grandmother into moving up here for over 10 years. She lives in Alabama. Nothing seems to work, but every time she visits, we try to find something we think she might like. Here are some of the photos from the thread "America's Largest House."




























The Inn at Biltmore (new hotel building)

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/21/05)

Land a pad downtown without forking out too much cash

By Mark Barrett
STAFF WRITER

ASHEVILLE — Dianne Tinman doesn’t get too excited these days when she sees signs that someone is renovating or building residential space downtown.

“Usually, I kind of look at it and go, ‘Oh, great, another one of those,’” said Tinman, who works in a retail shop on Lexington Avenue downtown.

That’s “one of those” as in one of those fancy condominium buildings with units costing hundreds of thousands of dollars that dot the central business district — and are way beyond the means of many people who work in their shadows.

“A lot of people who work downtown can’t afford to live downtown anymore. It’s kind of ironic,” Tinman said.

A local nonprofit expects to break ground next month on a 50-unit downtown apartment building that is specifically intended not to be “one of those” and will offer rents low enough to be affordable to downtown’s many service workers.

The Griffin will be located on what’s now a gravel lot on Grove Street, not far from the N.C. Employment Security commission offices, on the western end of downtown.

The $5.3 million project is being developed by Mountain Housing Opportunities, a local nonprofit working to increase the Asheville area’s supply of affordable housing.

Rents will range from $286 a month for an efficiency to $498 for a two-bedroom apartment, said MHO’s James Dennis.

Units will go only to those with annual household incomes less than about $13,000 to roughly $25,000, depending on household size, Dennis said.

“These are the folks that work downtown at the coffee shops, the bookstores, the retail shops,” he said. “We want to try to make housing available close to where people are working.”

MHO owns five rental units on Broadway that see very little turnover because affordable housing downtown is so scarce, Dennis said.

Much of the affordable housing available downtown now is either public housing or subsidized housing for the elderly.

Fifteen of the units will be reserved for people transitioning from homelessness.

Hospitality House, a local nonprofit that works with the homeless, will provide counseling or other services to people in those units.

For more information, call Mountain Housing Opportunities at 254-4030.

Contact Barrett at 232-5833 or mbarrett@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/21/05)

Asheville Savings Bank gets a retro look
Community welcome to see restored headquarters

After completing a $2.8 million renovation of their headquarters at 11 Church St. in downtown Asheville last month, Asheville Savings Bank executives and staff are inviting people to come take tours of the building and enjoy some refreshments there this Wednesday and Thursday.

The renovation was approved by the Historic Resources Commission of Asheville/Buncombe County and follows the 1922 design of architect Ronald Greene, whose works include Longchamps Apartments, the Jackson Building and Claxton Elementary School.

The architectural firm of Fisher Architects P.A. at 351 Merrimon Ave. oversaw the renovation of the 100-year-old structure, which has been restored to reflect the 1920s neoclassical style in vogue when it was first remodeled as the National Bank of Commerce.

Pink metal panels that were part of a 1965 makeover have been replaced with two-story Tuscan columns that frame the entrance. The parking lot also was refurbished with new plantings and an ATM with a columned facade that mirrors the main building's design.

Photographic images of the Asheville area by Ben Porter, Tim Barnwell, Rob Amberg and Asheville Savings Bank President and CEO John B. Dickson grace the walls inside the building.

"We are the oldest locally managed, independent financial institution in Asheville," Dickson said. "We're an important part of the history of this town. Rather than building a new headquarters building outside of the city, we chose instead to honor and preserve our past."

In addition to the Church Street headquarters, Asheville Savings Bank has 12 branch locations and on Dec. 31, reported assets in excess of $545 million. Visit www.asheville savingsbank.com or call 254-7411.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/21/05)

Buncombe had better get serious about reining in runaway growth

Last year, Buncombe County issued 176 permits for single-family homes in Swannanoa, 158 in Lower Hominy, 132 in Limestone, 131 in Avery Creek, 130 in Fairview and 127 in Leicester.

In other words, the county is busting out all over with growth. If anything, the trend will be upward. A Charlotte company has bought 406 acres on U.S. 74A in Fairview and plans hundreds of homes, some of them high on the ridge at the back end of the property.

At least one Fairview resident is concerned. “That would be really sad if there were houses up there,” said Pat Stone. “It’s just unfair to everybody. One family gets the ridgeline view and everybody else gets their view spoiled.”

But there’s nothing he, or anyone else, can do about it. Buncombe County remains the most populous county in North Carolina with no zoning. There are more than 210,000 residents today and thousands more on the way,

Buncombe has absolutely no way of controlling the intensity or location of development.

Suburban sprawl does more than ruin views, though that in itself is an important argument for controls in an area as dependent on tourism as is Western North Carolina.

Sprawl drives up the price of housing, increases the cost of government, gobbles up farmland and increases runoff and water pollution.

Asheville does its part to fight sprawl by encouraging high-density development in areas that already have utilities, streets and sidewalks.

The city and the county have a joint planning area designed to control development close to the city. Beyond that, however, the sky — or, rather, the ridgeline — is the limit.

Buncombe does have an ordinance regarding development on steep slopes, said Jim Coman, a county planner.

But, he added, “What it allows when you are on public water and sewer is relatively liberal.” He does not expect the regulations would affect development of the Fairview tract.

As Coman indicated, the only real restraint on development is the availability of utilities. Asheville City Council members have made this an issue in their dispute with the county over the regional water authority. One reason they cite for wanting to regain control over the water system is to have more say-so over growth outside their limits, so that growth does not harm the city.

Another Fairview resident, John Agar, fears the extension of sewage service to the new development will set off urbanization of the generally rural community. It will be “the beginning of the end of Fairview as we know it,” he said, resulting in more “urban density.”

Stan Boyd, director of engineering for the Metropolitan Sewerage District, says that is not necessarily so. A short developer-funded line to serve the property is not tantamount to a line serving other parts of Fairview, he said. Maybe not, but it’s a step in that direction.

The situation in Swannanoa, the most active Buncombe township in terms of homes authorized last year, is somewhat better. Swannanoa is close in and remains one of Buncombe’s most affordable areas.

“People say, ‘We look around and this is all we can find (that is affordable),’” said Carolyn Knight, listing agent for the 17.5-acre Cherry Blossom Cove development, which eventually is to have 85 single-family homes and 30 town homes.

But that is the result of circumstance, not planning. The way things stand, the more typical development will be a high-end large-lot project rambling across the landscape. These projects provide attractive housing for affluent retirees but do little for the people now living and working in Buncombe.

And those people need all the help they can get. A 2004 survey by the Center for Housing Policy shows Buncombe as one of the most difficult counties for elementary school teachers, police officers, licensed practical nurses, retail salespersons and janitors to find affordable housing.

The average sale price for single-family homes in 2004 was $226,995, according to David West, chief executive officer of the Asheville Board of Realtors. That’s more than $100,000 above the $120,000 a family of four with moderate income, defined as $39,700 a year, can afford, according to the Asheville Department of Housing and Community Development.

In 1999, county residents rejected zoning in a nonbinding referendum. But that was then. The margin was slim, the turnout was low and a lot of things have changed in the last six years. For one, there are 15,000 more people here now and many of them moved from areas that have zoning and are comfortable with it.

Perhaps the best answer is city-county consolidation. That would eliminate a lot of duplication in services and apply some uniform standards countywide. Charlotte has gone a long way toward consolidation with Mecklenburg County through merger of services and annexation of suburbs, with good results. Full consolidation has worked well in such cities as Nashville, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla.

This would be a good time to consider consolidation, while Asheville continues to dominate the county. It will be too late once it is ringed with municipalities that drain off its tax base.

Buncombe may not be ready for consolidation, but it had better be ready for something. The county is headed for a real mess unless it gets some system of managing growth.

[zigzag]

Great information.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/23/05)

Delta to offer nonstop Asheville-Orlando flights

By Mark Barrett
STAFF WRITER

ASHEVILLE — Delta Air Lines said Tuesday it will begin offering daily nonstop service between Orlando, Fla., and Asheville Regional Airport on June 1.

The flights, one a day each way, will be timed to allow a full day in the sun in Florida, although passengers will have to get up before the sun to go south. Flights will leave Asheville at 6:05 a.m. and arrive in Orlando at 7:45 a.m. The return flight will depart Orlando at 8:50 p.m. and reach Asheville at 10:30 p.m.

Flights will be offered by Delta commuter affiliate Chautauqua Airlines using 50-seat regional jets. They will lop 90 minutes or more off the time needed to fly between Asheville and Orlando today, said Asheville Regional spokeswoman Susan Phillips, plus will not involve changing planes in either Atlanta or Charlotte.

“Anything anybody can do to avoid Atlanta and Charlotte, they’re thrilled,” said Mike Hooker, senior director of operations at Wilcox World Travel and Tours.

Delta announced in September that it would offer Asheville-Orlando nonstop service starting in December but then pulled the plug in October.

Phillips said the odds are much better this time the flights will materialize, noting that passenger traffic at Asheville Regional is rising significantly. Delta’s financial problems, the coming of the slow winter season and other factors doomed the first attempt to start service, she said.

“It just wasn’t meant to be last year. There were too many factors working against us,” she said.

The service will attract people visiting the many tourist attractions in the Orlando area, people moving between a Florida home and one in the mountains and travelers who will make a connection in Orlando to visit another Florida city, Phillips said.

The Delta Web site, www.delta.com, on Tuesday was offering round trips on the new flight for $217 for several dates in June and July that include a Saturday stay.

Contact Barrett at 232-5833 or mbarrett@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/23/05)

Council OKs overhaul to apartment complex

By Rebeccah Cantley-Falk
STAFF WRITER

ASHEVILLE - Kenilworth residents fought against a proposed mixed-use development in their neighborhood Tuesday by presenting a valid protest petition, but City Council voted unanimously for the project, which will transform the Biltmore Garden Apartments.

Residents rallied to get the petition signed by property owners around the 6.6-acre site between Mission Hospitals and Biltmore Village. A valid protest petition must be signed by 20 percent of property owners around the project. That triggers a requirement that six of seven council members must approve of the development, instead of the normally required four votes, Asheville public information officer Lauren Bradley said.

After a two-hour discussion and adding several conditions to the development plan, all council members got behind the project, unanimously granting it a conditional use permit and a change in zoning that will allow short-term leases.

Resident Mary Evers said she was disappointed because City Council did not eliminate access to the project from Kenilwood Road, a site change residents had requested.

"We live there, and I really feel there will be a lot of cut-through traffic because Biltmore Avenue backs up regularly," Evers said. "It is already a narrow street."

Asheville developer W.W. "Gil" Gilman and partners in Power Development plan to turn the 114 units at the Biltmore Garden Apartments into condominiums available for sale and lease. The developers plan to target medical workers who are new to the area or who have transient jobs for short-term leases.

The development also includes the addition of four buildings with a total of 15,060 square feet for offices, shops and restaurants around a village-style plaza.

The condos will sell for $139,900 to $399,000, said Chuck Tessier, whose Tessier Associates real estate management and consulting firm is involved in the project. He said developers worked to address residents' concerns and would be willing to pay for a traffic light at the intersection of Biltmore and Caledonia avenues if a traffic study and the Department of Transportation decided one was warranted, he said.

Contact Falk at 232-2938 or rfalk@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

[hauntedheadnc]

And now for some random observations.

Biltmore House -- It's an irreplaceable treasure, and Asheville is lucky beyond comparison to have it. However, it seems to me that the current incarnation of the Cecil family is too interested in cutting and running. They're squandering the very things they were entrusted to protect. They're not strangers to developing their land, but in the past we got Biltmore Village from them, and now we get Biltmore Park. Biltmore Park, of course, is one of those developments that likes to prostitute itself as just the smartest thing to mince down the pike since the town square, but is actually only slightly improved over blatantly stupid growth.

Cheap downtown apartments -- I've seen a rendering of the building and it's horrible, but strangely the architects behind this project are also responsible for the Merritt Park Condominiums, one of downtowns smartest projects in years. Also, their other developments are impressive in that while they may not be the most beautiful things out there, they're pleasing to the eye, with respect for Asheville's existing architecture, and they're at least interesting to look at. The rendering for the Griffin Apartments, however, do not impress me. What are you going to do though? Ask them to make it prettier? In a housing climate like this, they're as likely to give up on the project altogether, so for now, this is a case where you've just got to let the developer do as they please -- as much as it pains me to say that.

Renovated bank -- It looks great! I've had to go into downtown Asheville twice over the past week, and both times I've stopped to look at this building. It looks a thousand times better restored to its original appearance than it did blanketed in ill-thought-out 60's-era renovations. What the hell happened to America back then, anyway? Did we all just suddenly turn stupid or something?

Runaway growth -- I agree with the editor of the Citizen-Times, and I'm proud the paper has the balls to say what it did, when few other area publications would.

Asheville to Orlando direct flights -- Another feather in our cap, and it means our airport just got a little more convenient. It's nice being able to travel without having to connect in a huge, maze-like airport somewhere.

Apartment renovations -- There's a little scrap of greenspace there now, and I'm sad it will be removed, as I imagine the residents of the Biltmore Garden Apartments are. If the developers truly intend to replace with a little "village square" it might even out in the end, though. It sure must suck to be living there now and learn you're being evicted, plus learn you'll have to pay out the nose to get another apartment in the same place you've already been living for years. I feel sorry for the residents there.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/23/05)

Griffin apartments downtown a move in right direction toward affordable housing

More of the people who work downtown will be able to live downtown when Mountain Housing Opportunities completes its 50-unit Griffin apartment building on Grove Street.

MHO, a local nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing, will put the $5.3 million structure on what now is a gravel lot between Patton and Hilliard avenues. Rents will range from $286 a month for an efficiency to $498 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. Renters must have annual incomes of less than $25,000.

Fifteen of the units will be reserved for people transitioning from homelessness. Those renters will receive counseling and other services from Hospitality House, a local nonprofit that works with the homeless.

For people such as Dianne Tinman, who works in a Lexington Avenue shop, Griffin is good news. “A lot of people who work downtown can’t afford to live downtown any more,” she said. “It’s kind of ironic.”

MHO is well aware of the problem. The agency owns five rental units on Broadway and there is very little turnover due to the scarcity of affordable housing downtown, according to MHO’s James Dennis. Much of downtown’s affordable housing is either public housing or subsidized housing for the elderly.

The average price of an existing home sold in the Asheville area in 2003 was five percent above the state average, while the average wage per job was more than 10 percent below the state average. The situation is even worse in downtown, where the trend has been toward high-end condominium units, first in restored buildings and now in some new projects. That doesn’t leave much hope for the average worker.

“These are the folks (who) work downtown at the coffee shops, the bookstores, the retail shops,” Dennis said.

“We want to try to make housing available close to where people are working.”

A worthy goal indeed.

[Matthew]

Is that the old late 60's looking apartment complex? I'm not a huge fan of it and welcome this new project. The residential market in Asheville right now could support highrises. I really wish we could get something around 20-25 floors (A new tallest). Something like what they are building in Miami or Charlotte. Those are really nice!

I see you finally agree with me on Biltmore Park. Have you visited it? I'm not impressed and I don't see what the big deal is.

Thanks for sharing this! I'm away at college (Athens, GA) right now and want to keep up with what's going on back home.

[hauntedheadnc]

Yeah, the Biltmore Garden Apartments are those down past the hospital, just as you get to Biltmore Village. From what I understand, their outward appearance isn't going to change a great deal. The buildings are up on a hill and the hillside and a little lawn at the bottom of the hill are a de facto park for the residents there. That's going to be removed, sadly.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/26/05)

New mixed-use project proposed

By Mark Barrett
STAFF WRITER

ASHEVILLE - A proposed residential and commercial project promises to transform yet another little used property on the south slope of downtown.

A Blowing Rock developer has asked for city approval of plans to put about 62 residential condominiums and 25,600 square feet of office and retail space on 1.7 acres on South Lexington Avenue. Work on the development, to be called Lexington Station, would begin in late April and be completed by the end of 2006. The property is the former Union Transfer building now owned by Buncombe County, which had proposed putting a satellite jail then ambulances and an emergency dispatch center there in recent years.

Those proposals were unpopular among those pushing for redevelopment of the area roughly bounded by Biltmore and Asheland avenues spilling down the hill on downtown's south side. The county is now looking elsewhere for locations for ambulances and emergency workers.

Architect Donny Luke, whose office is less than a block away from the Union Transfer building, said Lexington Station would accelerate what has been a slow transformation in the neighborhood.

The area "is on the upswing," Luke said. "To be able to tear down that building would be a vast improvement."

Workers will demolish the existing cinder block building that was once home to a moving company and construct three, three-story buildings, said Scott Carter, a local real estate agent working on the project with developer Steve Moberg.

The first floor of each building will be for office space and retail, including a coffee shop and a restaurant, Carter said. Space will be for sale, not for lease.

One- and two-bedroom condominiums will be located on the upper floors. There will be underground parking under each building and plans show space for additional on-street parking.

Carter said the buildings will have lap siding with some Arts and Crafts touches to create a look that Moberg calls "Old Asheville."

Residential condominiums are listed for $159,9000 to $257,000. That's less than many of the fanciest units in restored buildings downtowns have sold for, and Carter said he has already seen a strong demand. Deposits on 44 residential condominiums came in during the first five days after the units were listed for sale, he said.

The location is a little quieter than some in downtown but the main attraction is "the convenience," Carter said, "being able to walk fairly quickly to the Fine Arts Theatre, being able to get to the co-op for food, the baseball field."

Development has moved down Biltmore and Coxe avenues relatively quickly in recent years, but there has been less activity in between. The neighborhood has a mix of light industrial, service, office and residential uses. Carter and others said Lexington Station will accelerate change in the area.

"Whenever you spend some money, that's what everybody else is waiting on too," Carter said. "Then you'll see the rest follow."

"This is a logical extension of growth for the city," said Kim MacQueen, who until recently was president of Asheville Downtown Association. "It's time to get some of these properties on the tax rolls and to start using some of these properties in terms of high-density growth."

It is also good to see units priced at levels where more local residents can afford them, MacQueen said. Many downtown condominiums are owned by people who use them as second homes.

"What we could really use ... are some residences that are kind of aimed at people who live here," she said.

That creates more foot traffic and a safer feeling downtown, she said: "Any time you have activity above the first floor ... then the whole area becomes safer."

LEXINGTON STATION

Three buildings to contain about 62 residential condominiums and 25,600 square feet of commercial space.

Located on the south side of Hilliard Avenue between South Lexington Avenue and Church Street.

The project will be considered by the city Planning and Zoning Commission April 6 then must be approved by City Council. The commission meeting starts at 5 p.m. in the city public works building at 161 S. Charlotte St. No rezoning is required, but council approval is required because of the size of the project.

Construction would start in late April and be completed by the end of 2006.

Contact Scott Carter at 771-2737 for more information.

[x.man]

We need pictures! Remember the 1000 words adage...

Its interesting to read of the concern for affordable housing in downtown. Greensboro has little interest in affordable housing downtown, rather, it just wants housing. The new building 411 West, to start in April by the Boulevard Company of Charlotte, will have some affordable housing units in it because Preservation Greensboro sold the land to be developed at their cost in order to discourage expensive units. To my knowledge, that is the only example I've heard of a deliberate attempt to provide affordable housing in downtown Greensboro. Those units will range from $90,000 to $130,000...not exactly cheap either.

[hauntedheadnc]

I don't believe any renderings have been released showing the proposed Lexington Station, but here's one from the paper showing the planned Griffin Apartments. I think it looks poopish, but I like the name. Griffin Apartments -- nice and simple and kind of old school. None of this Barfwood Place, or Pukehaven Villas or any of the other bullshit cutesy little monikers developers like to give their buildings.

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Asheville Citizen-Times (03/28/05)

Montford’s Walking Tour rich in history
Asheville’s original elite neighborhood evolves

By Robert Wyatt
STAFF WRITER

MONTFORD — There is no Asheville neighborhood with a richer or more diverse history than that of Montford. Walking through the streets of Montford is like stepping from page to page in a history book. The names of the designers, builders and home owners from the Montford of yesterday can be read not only in the history books but all around Asheville: Pack, Ashe, Pritchard and Patton; Coleman, Rankin, Gudger and McCormick. This Who’s Who of Asheville’s elite began in what was once the area’s most elegant community.

The public now has an opportunity to relive this history through Montford’s Walking Tours offered by the Montford Arts Center. Your guide will explain, in detail, the finer points of Montford’s architecture, history and even geology as you stroll at a leisurely pace through the streets.

Walkers will see a myriad of architectural styles such as Neo-Classical Revival, Victorian, Queen Anne Style, Colonial Revival, Arts and Crafts and Georgian. The work of well-known designers like Richard Sharp Smith (Biltmore Estate), Charles Parker (Grove Arcade), and William Lord is on display around every turn. Lord’s son Tony also lived in Montford and designed the Asheville Citizen-Times’ Building and UNC Asheville’s Ramsey Library, among others.

The Art Center’s Sharon Fahrer, founder of the Walking Tours, said some of the architectural techniques are very exclusive to the individual designer.

“Richard Sharp Smith developed the ‘pebbledash’ home exterior that you will see a lot here in Montford,” she said. “This technique is prevalent in Biltmore Village buildings that he also designed. It gives the buildings that English village appearance.”

One of the business owners, Lynn Carlson of the Inn on Montford Bed and Breakfast, got to see the technique up-close-and-personal when she and her husband built their Carriage House.

“Being in a registered historic district, we had to be meticulous in our attention to detail,” Carlson said. “We were actually able to see the ‘pebbledash’ applied. It’s chicken wire, concrete, and three-quarter inch rolled river rock. It is applied by hand. It was fascinating. … It’s stood the test for 100 years so we thought it was a good option.”

There are houses as old as 1848 in the area, but Montford officially began as the dream of the Asheville Loan, Construction and Improvement Company in 1889.

It began to flourish when George Willis Pack (Pack Square) got involved. He donated the land that became Montford Park and stirred the interest in Montford nearing the turn of the 20th Century.

“When Montford was originally created it was the prominent neighborhood,” Fahrer said. “Business, doctors, lawyers and other professional people flocked here; but the workers also lived here, giving it some of the diversity it carries on to this day. There was just a great sense of community here.”

If you choose the Riverside Cemetery Walking Tour you’ll view the final resting places of many an Asheville notable. Authors Thomas Wolfe and O. Henry are buried there as well as Zebulon Vance (Civil War governor, state senator, and Confederate Army officer), Dr. Lewis McCormick (McCormick Field namesake) as well as many more prominent Asheville family members. The Riverside Cemetery Walking Tours can also be booked through the Montford Art Center.

Contact Wyatt at 232-5892 or rywatt@CITIZEN-TIMES.com.

[ejohnson]

The Biltmore house reminds of the mansion "Rose Red"

[hauntedheadnc]

Originally Posted by ejohnson

The Biltmore house reminds of the mansion "Rose Red"

Rose Grey, perhaps. I wonder what it would look like done in brick.

"...and after that, Biltmore House grew... by itself!"

[hauntedheadnc]

From the Mountain X-Press (03/30/05)

Gimme shelter
Council scrutinizes new condo, apartment plans
by Brian Postelle

...Won't get fooled again

The proposed renovation and expansion of an apartment complex in Kenilworth, near Biltmore Village, seems poised to gain approval, but the memory of a recent stink over tree-cutting in conjunction with another project had some Council members on their guard.

Power Development LLC bought the Biltmore Gardens complex at the southern end of Biltmore Avenue in January. But the proposed $18 million-plus project, which would include adding office and retail space and a restaurant, has neighbors up in arms. And city staff, in their recommendation to Council, had already outlined a 10-point list of proposed conditions to be placed on the permit, including restrictions on outdoor lighting and building design.

"This project is literally at our front door," said Mary Evers. She and others expressed fears about increased traffic on Kenilwood Place and the loss of trees on the property, begging Council members to place significant conditions on the development before approving it.

The neighbors had raised many of the same concerns in a prior meeting with Charles Tessier, representing the developers. He told Council members how the plans had been retooled to address these issues.

At the Council meeting, Tessier and landscape engineer Matt Sprouse displayed sketches of altered designs showing buildings moved to avoid stands of trees and a new entrance to the property created on a side street. The developers also agreed to pay for a traffic light at the intersection of Biltmore Avenue and Caledonia Road (if the Department of Transportation determines that one is necessary) and to provide a shelter for a nearby city bus stop.

The plan, he explained, is to convert the apartments to condos, with prices ranging from $139,900 to $399,000.

But neighborhood residents also voiced concern that short-term rental of the condos could lower the value of adjacent property. Tessier confirmed that the developers do plan to market the condos to the medical community affiliated with Mission Hospitals, which sometimes brings in personnel for short stays.

City Attorney Bob Oast assured Council members that they could require the condos to be owner-occupied (as Council did when it approved a 168-unit condo complex in Shiloh in 2002). And Council member Terry Bellamy suggested allowing no more than 25 percent of the units to be used for short-term rental.

But others on Council resisted that move, preferring not to stand in the way of a market-driven complex. "We're on slippery ground when we start talking about percentages," argued Council member Joe Dunn.

Vice Mayor Carl Mumpower agreed, wondering, "Do we really have the ability to say you can't rent your property?"

Tessier, meanwhile, assured Council that, like other such developments, these condos would be managed by a homeowners' association that would look after its own best interests. "The [restrictions] people think up are so far beyond what Council can think up," he said.

Council member Brownie Newman said that since the property is currently rental units, he doesn't see the short-term rentals as a significant threat. But Newman had other fish to fry – particularly the question of how many trees would be cut down to make room for the new construction (a point about which the plans displayed by Tessier remained vague).

Still stinging from the brouhaha surrounding the Campus Crest apartments in Montford, where developers felled a stand of trees after promising to preserve them (see "Nothing But the Truth," Jan. 19 Xpress), Newman wanted some way to hold the Biltmore Gardens developers to a firm commitment. Tessier did present Council with a survey showing which trees would be cut and which ones would stay, but it hadn't been adjusted to reflect the changes in the plans. And their assurances that they would cut as few trees as possible did little to appease Newman.

"We pretty much have to nail this as much as we can," he insisted. To that end, staff is drafting new language designed to hold developers to their word when it comes to tree removal. Council will consider that language at a future meeting (perhaps as soon as the April 12 formal session, said Shuford). In the meantime, however, the conditional-use permit – containing the restrictions recommended by staff plus a few added by Council – was unanimously approved. If Council members do approve language concerning tree preservation, it will be added to the permit.

Council members also unanimously approved a zoning change to allow for the nonresidential aspects of the project and for short-term rental of the renovated residential units.

Stacking the deck

Newman proved less successful in promoting another project, however.

A 650-space, five-level downtown parking deck to be built adjacent to the Civic Center and the Basilica of St. Lawrence has already been in the works for more than five years. During that time, the projected cost has jumped from $15.2 million to just over $20 million, making some Council members uneasy.

But seeing a deck in Greenville that had apartments built into one side gave Newman the idea of using the Asheville deck to add affordable housing downtown. From the start, however, he faced an uphill battle – and almost didn't get to discuss the matter at all.

Carl Mumpower objected to revisiting the issue, reminding Council members that they'd already voted to go ahead with the deck. "It is backtracking on a vote," he said. "I don't think I would have voted for a $20 million plan without a plan."

"We didn't lock them into a particular design, nor did we instruct them to change it," countered Newman.

And Mayor Charles Worley wielded his authority, declaring, "I have made that ruling: It is on the agenda." After some squabbling among council members, Worley took off the gloves, challenging Council to overrule him with a vote.

Joe Dunn took the mayor at his word, making a motion to kill the discussion. It was seconded by Mumpower but failed on a 2-5 vote.

City Engineer Cathy Ball said that while staff wouldn't rule out the idea of residences attached to the structure, neither would they recommend it. Making room for the apartments, she explained, would eliminate 109 parking spaces. Another 19 spaces would have to be allocated for the residents' use. And Ball reminded Council members that 150 spaces had already been lopped off the original design.

Ball also cited other considerations, such as $250,000 in redesign costs, an additional four- to six-month construction delay, and a $150,000 reduction in annual revenues due to the lost parking spaces.

Newman, however, defended his proposal, arguing that although it would be a "financial wash," the city's continual need for more affordable housing downtown outweighs the losses.

But Mumpower expressed doubt that such apartments would qualify as "affordable." And Shuford said the only way it could work would be if the city subsidized the units.

In the end, Newman's proposal to change the design went down on a 2-5 vote, with only Jones joining Newman in support of it. But on a 6-1 vote (with Mumpower opposed), Council members did agree to commission a $25,000 market study to assess the feasibility of including affordable housing in a second, privately owned building on the site that is earmarked for a mix of residential, retail and office space.

[ExpatBaman]

Glad to see the downtown residential and mixed-use projects in the works. The affordable housing is impressive, most of our other cities can't seem to get that part together.