Parks Hospitality Group, which owns four other North Carolina hotels in Cary, Durham and Burlington, bought the property for $2.1 million, according to property records.
Real estate agent Rick Tisdale called the transaction an emotional sale for The Zourzoukis family.
“Usually, commercial deals like this are just all numbers, but for this family it’s been a pretty emotional deal,” Tisdale said. “They’re a big part of history in this town.”
Parks Hospitality spokesman Trevor Walden said the group hasn’t reached a franchise agreement for the property, but said they hope to open an “upscale hotel” sometime in 2015.
The McKibbon Group, the builders of the Aloft Hotel on Biltmore Avenue, have already gotten city approval to build another boutique hotel on Haywood Street across from the Basilica of St. Lawrence.
And I reported last September that a piece of property on Elm Street near downtown had been sold to a Greensboro company that owns and operates hotels. The location is next to the 51 Grill on Merrimon Avenue, and is known to many as the old location of a Steak and Ale restaurant. More recently, is was La Caterina Trattoria restaurant. Now the Exxon Station that is home to 51 Grill is for sale.
In addition, I’ve heard there are at least a couple of other hoteliers actively seeking property in downtown Asheville.
13 Comments
The great thing about hotels is that the suburban atlantasses and floriditiots will come, bring their money, and then (most importantly) go back to their crapholes! Win,win, win
If this company guaranteed living wage jobs as an outcome, then I would be more inclined to support the hotel. Other than that, Asheville needs affordable housing more than hotel rooms.
It’s not an either/or proposition.
Sigh. Only in Asheville would there be a slice of the population that would look down on a million-dollar investment that increases the tax base.
People walk over the bridge home to Montford at night all of the time and I am not hearing about some huge amount of criminal activity going on. I’m sure there will be a parking deck with cameras and a security guard. In larger cities you often stay in nice hotels in there center city/downtown areas that have some shady surroundings. That is just the nature of downtown areas often times. You just take normal precautions.
Oh boy! More minimum wage jobs! More hand-wringing about our city’s skyline destruction! More pants pissing about tourists getting mugged! Cause it’s okay, it’s a sign of progress, right?
Yes. Just what downtown needs — ANOTHER luxury hotel.
… and when you check out the reviews, on the Internets, some of the guests of these places (indigo, aLoft, Grand Boho) have had anything but a luxury experience …
of course not everyone sends compliments, but the sentiments of the reviews were recurring … noise, below expectations of quality, bad views, theft, “nickled and dimed” for in room amenities, unexpected fees/charges and surly employees seemed to be the most common
clearly folks still want to visit the “cesspool” and a variety of choice is a good thing …
Relatively speaking, there’s been few hotel rooms added downtown. Until the Indigo opened a few years ago, there hadn’t been any new hotels open downtown in about 20 years. As it is, the total number of rooms added (Aloft and Indigo) is only 231, or less than half the size of the Grove Park Inn. That’s a drop in the bucket for an area that has considerable demand.
And neither of the hotel brands added in the last few years are considered truly “luxury.”
As opposed to a vacant restaurant/lot? Any nice development here would seem to be an improvement.
I wouldn’t let my friends or family stay there even if it were a ritz. Id feel safer walking back to my car on eagle street rather than walk from downtown to the outskirts…but good luck and best of success, we need the tourists to support our waitstaff, artists, and beercrafters.
Directions to our property: left at the homeless shelter, past the sheriffs dept, valet on right
Please Note: Do not leave any valuables in your car as mgmt assumes no liability. For assistance please dial 911
Perfect!
that can be a sketchy neck of the woods … especially at night
A fancy hotel right by the homeless shelter. Let see which one goes first.