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BlogAsheville reports via Twitter that Asheville’s newest restaurant, Gan Shan Station, opens today (Sunday):
Gan Shan is at 143 Charlotte Street, in the former broken-down PB station. Pan-Asian menu, chef in the kitchen, independently owned.
18 Comments
As a 25-year resident of the neighborhood, I’m so happy to see a good business going into this building, which has been an eyesore for a good 20 years at least. I can’t count the number of times I called the city to complain about head-high weeds on that lot, not to mention the graffiti and trash. It looks great now, and I wish them great success.
I was lucky enough to try out Gan Shan the second night they were open and was not disappointed. The food was incredible and the service throughout the house was second to none. The atmosphere is warm and inviting with a perfect balance of old and new. Patrick and his team have done an amazing job breathing much needed new life into the Charlotte Street community and Gan Shan is certain to be a hub of activity and community for years to come.
Not sure where the reader above is getting their information, however. I checked with the city and the state and there are very strict requirements for redevelopment of old buildings like this requiring a clean bill of health before they can be reused. There are many examples of buildings like this being reused such as the deli across the street, Mellow Mushroom, U-Joint, 12 Bones, and many others across the region. I too would be curious if the reader could cite credible sources supporting his or her claims or if their statements were based on uninformed supposition.
Is there a menu anywhere online?
There is one online now at their website
http://www.ganshanstation.com
Thanks!
A restaurant built on an unremeditated brownfield site? Yum.
Great work, City of Asheville Permit Office.
That sounds terrible. Aren’t they required to have testing performed? Is there a standard that they should meet?
The tanks were removed some years ago, so the lable ‘brownfield’ does not apply.
Source: A lifetime resident of the neighborhood.
Much like U Joint in West Asheville, I’m dying to know how putting a restaurant in an abandoned gas station made it through permitting without actually removing any of the contaminated soil on site. This is the classic definition of a unremeditated brownfield site. I don’t care how good the food is, I wouldn’t touch this place with a 10 foot pole. There is some really questionable stuff that makes it through city permitting…
A buddy of mine heard they passed something called a Phase 1&2 Environmental?
He too was curious and looked into it. Looks like the tanks were out
nearly 20 years ago and the state gave a green light? Got any leads or inside info?
Matthew, do your homework. I can confirm that the tanks were removed 12-15 years ago and that the environmental studies showed no soil contamination … hence no need to excavate soil. In addition, building analysis for lead and asbestos were negative. This does NOT fit the definition of an “unmediated brownfield site”, and the Asheville City permitting process HAS done its homework, unlike you. The certifications are on file with the City, if you would care to inspect them and modify your inaccuracies.
I heard the same…. I thought that the remediation was what was keeping potential builders from developing the site. Turns out out it was extraordinary high real estate prices…. who would’ve guessed that in dumpy North Asheville.
Matthew, go back to being an un-informed hater somewhere else. The tanks were removed and all of the (strict) city environmental requirements were met, fool.
Matthew – you may be interested in the tin foil hats I have for sale at the Woolworth Walk. They’re handcrafted, organic, and locally fermented in a pristine stand of old growth on national forest land that has been blessed by the NRDC and certified ‘Three Star Namaste’ by the city permitting office.
I know! I always love when chefs drag my food through the dirt on site before cooking it. It’s a shame Mr Shan can’t offer that option.
BP Gas station. Not PB lol.
Actually, it was a Gulf station.
Hooray! Way to go, Patrick!!