First Asheville River Arts District boutique hotel up for review Sept. 18

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The first boutique hotel planned for Asheville’s River Arts District will get its first review by city officials and planners at the Asheville Technical Review Committee’s Sept. 18 meeting.

Ashvegas first reported back in July that a boutique hotel was possible for 95 Roberts St. That is the location of a massive five-story, 61,000-square-foot building known as the Kent Building.

The plan is to develop a 70-room hotel in the building, as well as a restaurant and retail space. The developer is Charlotte-based White Point Partners is a private investment firm specializing in the acquisition, development and repositioning of commercial, multifamily and self storage real estate assets throughout the U.S., according to its website, with a particular focus on the South.

 

The technical review committee’s review is a cursory one, but a crucial first step as plans work their way through the city bureaucracy. Any new hotel of 21 or more rooms must receive final approval from Asheville City Council, per new rules the city adopted earlier this year. Asheville is in the midst of a hotel-building boom.

The River Arts District is a hotbed of current and planned development with a massive, $50 million infrastructure project is underway. The project will bring significant improvements to the old industrial district.

At a July community meeting to talk about plans, five people showed up, according to city documents. More:

“Comments on the project were positive. Everyone present indicated they were happy the building will be improved. Mr. Michael Rice (owner of neighboring property) requested that the owner remove a tree located near the shared property line.”