Hot Sheet: Happy Hill Restaurant, a West Asheville institution, set to close; 7 Clans Brewing plans Sweeten Creek Road location; Harbor Freight coming to south Asheville; more
Also, three young women rowers in Asheville sign with major universities
Note: This story sponsored by Citizens Fuel Co., a family-owned Asheville company.
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Now for more of what’s going around:
Happy Hill Restaurant, a local diner that’s been operated by the same family for decades, is planning to close for good just before Christmas. Mike and Emily Lawrence owned George’s Deli off Leicester Highway for 24 years before closing that location and moving their operation in 2010 to 1400 Patton Ave., the site of Happy Hill, which Emily’s father, George, opened in 1968 and operated until 1981. At that time, he leased the restaurant to another family, which kept the name Happy Hill for about another decade before it became a Mexican restaurant before the Happy Hill name returned. (Special thanks to Stephan Pruitt Photography for the photo.)
7 Clans Brewery plans to build out a new brewery and tasting room location at 108 Sweeten Creek Road, according to city development permits. The brewery was founded by two women who are enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The brewery website states that the brewery is “a majority-female indigenous owned company located in the heart of the original Cherokee homelands on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina.”
MANNA FoodBank recently received approval from the Buncombe County Board of Adjustment to build a new, 100,000-square-foot warehouse in Swannanoa. The building with 12 loading bays and a large parking lot, will be the new home of MANNA, which is currently located on Swannanoa River Road.
Industry Nine, the manufacturer of wheel sets and hub sets for mountain bikes and road bikes (as well as other bikes), is planning to do renovation work to a large warehouse at 150 Westside Drive in the Westside Business Park off Hazel Mill Road. Clint Spiegel, the founder of Industry Nine, bout the 19-acre property for $7.1 million in September, according to Buncombe County property records.
Asheville has a vibrant youth rowing community and last month, three seniors with the Asheville Youth Rowing Association gathered at the Jack Gartner Boathouse in Lake Julian Park to sign commitment letters to major universities. Claire Carver-Ritter signed to row with the University of Louisville next year. She will join her former AYRA teammate, Kenzie Dinga, who is also a recruited rower at Louisville. Claire is in her fourth year with AYRA. Adie Altman-Jacobs signed to be a coxswain at Rutgers University for their Division I Women's Crew. She is also in her fourth year as a coxswain with AYRA. (Adie has six siblings, five of whom are coxswains with AYRA. Wow!) And Morgan Foxworth signed to row at Oregon State next year. Morgan has also been rowing for four years.
Franny’s Farmacy has opened a new retail location at 231 Biltmore Ave. The shop features an array of CBD, Delta 8 and hemp products.
Harbor Freight, the California-based equipment and tool retailer, is planning to build a 15,000-square-foot building at 1940 Hendersonville Road in south Asheville.
Fields Mazda plans to build a new car dealership at 255 Smokey Park Highway.
Hobbytown USA is coming to the Walmart shopping center at 129 Bleachery Boulevard.
BB Barnes, the locally grown plant nursery (they opened in 1988) located at 3377 Sweeten Creek Road, is planning to add 2,300 square feet of space to its existing garden center. The 2-story addition will feature a ground-floor cafe with an office on the second floor.
Wonderful, a boutique featuring jewelry, scarves, knit hats and more, has opened in the new Radview building at 104 Artful Way (behind the Crucible bar and across from Wedge Studios). The shop is the work of Tressa Thornton, the longtime owner/operator of the popular downtown bar Tressa’s on Broadway Street. Tressa got out of the bar business a couple of years ago.
We may finally see some work at the RAD Lofts, the large mixed-use project that’s been on and off for the past eight years. Permits have been pulled for the demolition of an existing structure and various retaining walls on the 146 Roberts St. The permits are pulled in the name of “Woodfield RAD Lofts,” and I’m wondering if that’s a reference to Woodfield Investments.
Wagbar, the popular dog park and bar that opened in Weaverville last year, has announced it is planning to open a second location in south Asheville next year. Anyone know what their new location will be?
The Marshall House Inn is for sale. From the property description: “Designed by the supervising architect of the Biltmore Estate, Richard Sharp Smith, the house is built in the English vernacular style. The house was converted into a ‘Tourist Home’ in the 1920s and has been welcoming guests to Marshall ever since.” The list price: $1.499 million.
A Sly Grog Lounge benefit concert is set for 4- 8 p.m. on Jan. 16 at the LEAF Global Arts center at on Eagle Street. A Dec. 2 fire caused significant damage to the Sly Grog’s building at 271 Haywood Street. The event will also serve as a release party for the annual Fringe Festival’s guide.
Speaking of the Asheville Fringe Festival - organizers will celebrate the 20th anniversary of experimental, weird and out-of-the-box art with another great event Jan. 27-30, 2022. Local artists shine here, as do out-of-town talents, in the following disciplines: dance, theater, puppetry and music, as well as film and installations. The event includes several parties, as well as streaming shows online for folks who want to enjoy a virtual festival. Tickets are on sale Jan. 1.
Patton Avenue Pet Company is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Congratulations to Jenna Yarosh Wilson, who opened her first pet supply store at 1388 Patton Avenue in West Asheville when she was 24 years old. She now has a downtown location, also along Patton Avenue, as well as a south location on Hendersonville Road. In addition to all that, Jenna also started Mountain Pet Rescue.
A great online auction organized by French Broad Riverkeeper Hartwell Carson is underway right now to raise money for clean water in Africa. Items to bid on include: Bali resort stay, Tuscany retreat, Jim Carson art, Watauga Riverkeeper guided fly fishing, The Riveter biking and climbing, Gaze Lash & Brow Bar visit, several golf trips, Nantahala Outdoor Center rafting, Cabo resort, St Lucia resort, Broadway tickets, The Gorge Zipline, CA cycling trip, Kanuga Bike Park, Climbmax at the River passes, Big Muddy Adventures paddle and more. One hundred percent of the proceeds will go to African Riverkeepers. The auction ends Sunday.
There’s an increasingly dire need for affordable housing in Western North Carolina, reports the Asheville Watchdog. From “New Report Sounds Alarm on Affordable Housing - Again”: By 2025 the region will need 20,000 more units for lower-income households, with 70 percent, or 14,000, of those new units needed in just three counties: Buncombe, Henderson, and Haywood, according to a new study that Asheville Watchdog details.
Thanks for reading.
-j