Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
A building under renovation at 290 Haywood Road in West Asheville collapsed Wednesday afternoon about 5 p.m. No injuries reported. Loyal reader Curtiss sent in this photo from the scene. The collapsed building is in East/West Asheville, near Bari Salon and Villagers.
Here’s some detail about the 7,400-square-foot building, from a real estate listing:
7,400 SF COMMERCIAL BLOCK BUILDING on .44 ACRES IN WEST ASHEVILLE Bourgeoning East/West Asheville – Conveniently located along the bustling and growing Haywood Road Corridor. Gateway to the River Arts District &, New Belgium Brewery with close proximity to Downtown Asheville. Highly walkable community surrounded by one of Asheville’s most desirable neighborhoods of eclectic homeowners and classic bungalows. Great for a myriad of uses: merchant retail, neighborhood goods &, services, food &, beverage, restaurant and/or brew pub. Zoned HR-3. 7,400 SF Commercial Block Building (3,700 SF per floor) on .44 Acres at the corner of Haywood Road and Wellington Street. Adaptive reuse of a 40’s era free standing masonry block building with pre-engineered barreled roof trusses offering flexible space utilization. Plenty of onsite parking.
Landlord plans to subdivide into 3 separate tenant spaces – 2 units on main floor at grade with Haywood Road. Anchor Unit on West Side to be the larger of the 2 having exclusive use of the side lot on Haywood Rd – perfect opportunity for outdoor dining options. The lower level unit has direct grade access to the parking lot and encompasses the entire building foot print of approx. 3,700 SF. Landlord plans to deliver units in Warm-Shell Condition.
Landlord plans to subdivide into 3 separate tenant spaces – 2 units on main floor at grade with Haywood Road. Anchor Unit on West Side to be the larger of the 2 having exclusive use of the side lot on Haywood Rd – perfect opportunity for outdoor dining options. The lower level unit has direct grade access to the parking lot and encompasses the entire building foot print of approx. 3,700 SF. Landlord plans to deliver units in Warm-Shell Condition. Renovation includes site conditions upgrade for parking and ADA access, new storefront façade at Haywood Road elevation, new insulated roof panels/membrane. New mechanical systems &, utility infrastructure. New windows and doors. Lease Rate $14/SF/NNN Main Level Lease Rate $10/SF/NNN Lower Level Ready for Tenant Upfit – Spring 2015
I have a friend (who builds for a living and knows construction) who drove by it in the morning before. He told me “when you remove all the interior walls…” I think it was more human error than nature. Figures.
Guessing it will be an all new bldg now! Let’s all be glad that the former ‘business’ is gone as they were not qualified to run such a business. A lot of people probably never got their equipment back…
The building was empty, hence the ‘demo permit’ mentioned in the C-T article. No equipment was lost. What was lost was a building bought for improvement by a person who wanted to CREATE local business by creating space, for the benefit of West Asheville. STFU until you understand the situation, fool.
Thank God nobody was in the building.
I happened to be right across the street looking at the building as it collapsed. Called 911 while running over to see if anyone was inside. I joined others who were calling into the building to see if anyone answered (not a sound). No worker cars parked nearby. We could see tools, ladders, etc. but no people inside. Good day not to work on the building!