Hot Sheet: Haywood Street Congregation has new location for affordable housing proposal; Second Gear opens in Asheville RAD; Baird Street townhouse plans submitted
Also, longtime WLOS-TV reporter John Le prepares to exit
Here’s more of what’s going around:
Haywood Street Congregation, the church and urban ministry focused on Asheville’s houseless population, has a new location for a multi-family housing proposal that would be home to about 45 deeply affordable apartment units. The location is 339 West Haywood St., not far from its downtown location at 297 Haywood St.
Earlier this year, Haywood Street dropped its consideration of another downtown site for its project, a site along Asheland Avenue. There was a growing concern that city officials should keep the parcel, acquired under the city’s “urban renewal” process decades ago, from any sale or development deal until the city works through its reparations considerations. City officials had made that decision for all but one other parcel of city-owned land acquired during urban renewal, some argued, and that decision should apply to Asheland. The issue posed “an impossible ethical dilemma,” Haywood Street Rev. Brian Combs wrote in the recent announcement of the new location, “a choice between constructing urgently needed affordable housing or deferring to the community of color displaced and downcast by racist housing policies.”
The new location, adjacent to the Daniel Boone Council, Boy Scouts of America offices, appears to solve that dilemma, Combs writes. “A site we pursued years prior- one much closer to the sanctuary, one with western facing mountain views, one without adjacent residential neighbors, one without the oppressive history of urban renewal, one within a neighborhood long known for championing affordable housing- became available again. Heartened by the opportunity, we agreed on terms with the seller and recently went under contract at 339 West Haywood Street.”
We’ll see how this project moves forward. For more background, read Haywood Street’s fact sheet on the original proposal.
Developers of a controversial mixed-used project at 101 Charlotte Street recently pulled those plans, but have submitted their designs for 19 townhouses on part of the 6-acre tract they initially planned to redevelop. The townhomes front Baird Street. (Charlotte Street, Baird Street, Chestnut Street and Furman Avenue formed the rough boundaries of the first proposal.) Unlike the big redevelopment plan, the new project doesn’t need Asheville City Council approval to move ahead. This appears to be the way forward for developers here: smaller, piecemeal development projects that don’t require Asheville City Council approval, yet may still require the demolition of some or all of the century-old houses on the land that historic preservationists want to be preserved - structures that the property owner is under no obligation to keep.
Asheville public art lovers take note: the city is hiring a Public Art Specialist. It’s the first time in nearly a decade that the city will have a specific point person focused on the city’s public art. (Not since Diane Ruggerio left her job as arts superintendent back in 2012 has Asheville focused such attention here.) The new hire will coordinate “community-led design projects and incorporating art and place-based interventions in public spaces,” according to the job listing. The person “will work directly with the community and across city departments to improve Asheville’s public realm.” For a city that likes to pride itself as an arts-centric town, this is great news. The job will be critical for one especially important upcoming job - shepherding whatever public art work(s) will take the space formerly dominated by the Vance Monument in downtown Asheville’s Pack Square Park.
Dana Kornatz, who has worked for the past five years as the city of Asheville’s downtown development specialist, has left to take a new job as program manager with the nonprofit Thrive Asheville. Asheville’s downtown has been a critical economic engine since rebounding (starting in the 1990s) from the dark decades of boarded-up storefronts and empty streets. Kornatz did a great job building connections between city government and downtown property and business owners as the central business district has continued to grow into a tourist haven filled with hotels, restaurants, bars, shops and art galleries catering to out-of-town visitors. I’ll have more Thrive Asheville in an upcoming newsletter.
Second Gear has officially opened at its new location in the heart of the Asheville River Arts District last week. The popular outdoor gear and consignment shop at 99 Riverside Dr. is more than twice the size of Second Gear’s former spot along Haywood Road in West Asheville. Two other local businesses will operate out of the building: Asheville Adventure Company will lead its biking, paddling and hiking tour business there; and Sugar and Snow Gelato’s cafe will offer its tasty selections there. These businesses will do well in the RAD, which is bustling with activity following the end this past spring of massive infrastructure project to improve water/sewer pipes and add a greenway and protected bike lane. Congratulations to Second Gear founder Russ Towers and his crew!
John Le, a WLOS-TV reporter for at least the past two decades, has announced that he’s leaving in November to go to work for a Charlotte television station, FOX 46. Over the years, Le has won more than a dozen region Emmy Awards for his reporting, most notably his heart-tugging profiles of local people. Le’s exit is the latest in an on-going exodus of long-time WLOS talent. Over the past couple of years, news anchors Darcel Grimes, Frank Kracher and Frank Fraboni, as well as sports anchor Stan Pamphilis, have all moved on. (Meteorologist Ingrid Allstaedt also recently left after 10 years.) Collectively, this group represented well over 100 years of experience in local television news. The departures, in turn, have opened the door to a crop of new talent, notably Ty Russell, who’s bubbly personality has certainly on the anchor desk has won over my mother (a key demographic); and Anjali Patel, who’s smart, no-nonsense reporting is always a breath of fresh air.
Food trucks can be found all over Asheville. That’s because 10 years ago, after a public awareness campaign led by Suzy Salwa Phillips, owner of the Gypsy Queen food truck, the city of Asheville changed its rules to make it easier for food trucks to operate. Today, Phillips and her Gypsy Queen Cuisine have a brick-and-mortar location along Patton Avenue, and Asheville has more than 100 food trucks, according to a count by Asheville Food Fan Stu Helm. Wow! Meantime, keep an eye on the development of a new food truck lot in town that Stu is calling the Food Pod. The location is technically Patton Avenue, but it’s weird - it’s along the access road used to get to Westgate Shopping Center, the Crowne Plaza hotel and Jackson’s Western Store.
Red Fiddle Viddle plans to open a catering kitchen at Dingle Creek Shopping Center, 1800 Hendersonville Road in south Asheville, according to city construction permits.
Mr Tea Asian Bistro is planning to open in the shopping center at 3 S. Tunnel Road.
Mary’s Mountain Cookies is planning to open inside the former leasing office on the ground floor of the AC Hotel on Broadway Street.
First Watch, a Florida-based restaurant chain that serves breakfast, lunch and brunch, is planning to open in the Biltmore Station shopping center at 2 Hendersonville Road, near Biltmore Village. The work includes installing a new kitchen with commercial hood, and building out a new dining room, bar and bathrooms.
Vinnie’s has opened its new South Asheville location. The 1981 Hendersonville Road location is the completely remodeled former location of another long-time favorite eatery, Ianucci’s.
Finally, here’s a heartfelt thanks to all the loyal readers that have followed Ashevegas over the years. Ashevegas has been voted one of the top three best local blogs or best local news websites every year since 2010 by the readers of Mountain Xpress. It’s been a remarkable run, all due to you, loyal readers. Thank you!
I launched Ashevegas as a personal blog way back in 2005 as an outlet for my writing. It morphed over the years into a community news website, and more recently into this, the Ashevegas Hot Sheet newsletter. Thank you for following along. If you like what you see here, please consider supporting local, independent journalism by buying a subscription.
That’s it for now. Thank you for reading.
-j