Updated: Patton Place, new 116-unit apartment complex in downtown Asheville, gets early approval

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Update Aug. 17: The Patton Place Apartments project proposed at the corner of Patton and Clingman avenues in Asheville met with early approval from the Asheville Technical Review Committee on Monday afternoon. The complex with have 116 apartment units and 160 parking spaces. The project includes a parking deck. The next stop for the project is the Asheville Downtown Commission on Sept. 11.

Original post July 19: Word on the street is that a new 150-unit apartment complex is under consideration for a parking lot at the corner of Patton and Clingman avenues. The location serves as a gateway into downtown; it essentially marks the western beginning/ending of the Patton Avenue artery. Folks on Interstate 240 can exit the highway here and hit this intersection.

Delray Ventures is the developer. initial plans call for a four-story building with parking on the location, from what I’ve heard. Again, these are all early plans under consideration. There’s an informational meeting coming up for property owners in the neighborhood.

There hasn’t been much new development on this end of Patton Avenue in recent years, although that’s starting to change. Construction work to improve and expand the Western Carolina Rescue Ministries has been underway for several years right across the street from the proposed new apartment complex. And just up the street, there’s talk about building two 15-story hotel towers.

35 Comments

Barry Summers August 19, 2015 - 1:36 pm

If the goal of requiring retail on the ground floor is to avoid blank walls at street level like the Wells Fargo building, that appears not to be a problem with this design – windows etc. at ground level.

I support the general idea, but given that area, what chance would any retail business have of surviving there?

Murphy August 19, 2015 - 3:41 pm

1) Not sure who would want to live on the street level in that area either…

2) With available space in rapid decline in the rest of downtown, it’s only a matter of time before this area sees some growth… and there are already plans for another hotel just a block away to the east… Jan Davis’ tire store will be the next thing to go (when he gets an offer he can’t refuse on that property)…

jtroop August 24, 2015 - 12:36 pm

Agreed, even if that area is on the rise, I cant envision a lot of foot traffic on what is basically an on/off-ramp for 240.

brian anderson August 18, 2015 - 8:16 pm

i coulnt afford to live there. even though i want to sell my 1700 sq ft house. where would i go?

AVL LVR August 17, 2015 - 11:32 pm

I would force them to add two more floors with retail on bottom. The style is good, it is common in upcoming areas of the Carolinas an Georgia. It looks like Biltmore Park style.

burnsey August 17, 2015 - 11:42 pm

I have to agree with this, and really, i am not so sure I would want to live on the ground floor at this location.

Murphy August 18, 2015 - 7:53 am

It will be interesting to see how well these units rent when folks realize they are right across the street from a homeless shelter (that is expanding in size) and they see all the people hanging around all day on the sidewalks and in the area in general waiting for the place to open…

Harry August 18, 2015 - 7:30 am

Force them to add two more floors and retail? Really? Why don’t we tell them what they can charge for rent while we are forcing?

AVL LVR August 18, 2015 - 11:28 am

They have to play by our rules. Our town our rules. We will negotiate hard, but fair.

I am not a libertarian. We should have reasonable standards (environmental, design), but be stricter downtown. Asheville is getting to place where we can be choosier. Developers will complain, but the choosier we are the nicer our town will be. If can turn Asheville into resort-quality (even for the poorest), our desirability will more than make up for any lost development.

As for rent controls, I think we must be patient and work hard. Eventually, everything will be free. We will enter an age of abundance. I have long urged for high tariffs and for an increase in minimum wage. It will hasten the development of new technologies to replace almost all human labor (even most surgeries). The goal is to make human labor too expensive vs. automation. The next goal is to make all allow all Americans benefit from this ever increasing productivity. Perhaps we will use the farm subsidies model (paid farmers to grow an abundance of corn etc.) which helped create the obesity crisis. To avoid a crisis, we will still incentivize (not necessary monetary) R&D and education (which will be free). We will rein in the power of the government by going back to town halls/local power and individual control.

Ideas for Asheville/Buncombe:
1. Ban all new mobile homes/trailer parks and gradually find ways to remove the existing ones (incentives/compensation/exchanges).
2. Complete the Greenway system to surpass Knoxville. Also add more sidewalks(when will the Hendersonville Rd one will be complete?).
3. Use granite curbing downtown like Atlanta/Charlotte/Raleigh. Consider brick/granite sidewalks.
4. Strict design controls especially downtown streamlined permitting/strict design zoning.
5. Our county park system is really sad. Maybe get something like the Pullen Park Carousel in Raleigh or an Aquatic Center.
6. Enhanced the Asheville Airport and also the WNC Nature Center.
7. Encourage the cheese/fruit industry. It was a big mistake betting rid of it with the hotel tax. We should still find a way to tap into the hotel tax. At the end of the day, hotels will be at maximum capacity if all of Asheville is of resort quality.
8. Asheville needs to annex Arden and Candler. Asheville is running out of land. Asheville is the famous destination- We will make it bigger and stronger. Our values will skyrocket, though we must get Asheville’s property tax way down. I would preserve Leicester/Fairview as a farming community. Also perhaps add new fruit orchards up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Candler (with incentives and seed money from the hotel tax). Woods are fine, but the rest of the Blue Ridge Parkway (Virginia/Boone) has farms too.

9. The Blue Ridge Parkway bridge over Hendersonville Rd and the new one over Brevard Rd needs to be converted to stone bridges for a tourism boost (aesthetics) and out of respect for the Parkway.

Murphy August 18, 2015 - 1:51 pm

The NC General Assembly (the asshats in Raleigh) have banned annexation with those folks to be annexed voting themselves to be annexed…

Harry August 18, 2015 - 7:30 pm

Oh I’m sorry. I forgot you were a dope.

NFB August 19, 2015 - 12:51 pm

Most of Arden is already in the city. What isn’t can’t be annexed per new laws passed by the state legislature.

How would any of the ideas you propose help make housing more affordable in Asheville and Buncombe county. Certainly banning moblie homes will cause housing costs to increase.

burnsey August 19, 2015 - 11:03 am

Some major cities require retail on ground floor of new construction, prevents bare wall buildings such as the wells fargo building on the east side of Pritchard park.

NFB August 17, 2015 - 4:53 pm

What are the rents in this place going to be?

hauntedheadnc August 18, 2015 - 3:15 pm

More than anyone who actually gets paid an Asheville wage can afford.

Next question, please.

NFB August 18, 2015 - 4:22 pm

Which of course means that before long the yuppie residents will start complaining about all those tacky poor people across the street and demand that the city shut the Rescue Mission down.

Murphy August 17, 2015 - 4:42 pm

Why do all of these new/proposed apartment building look the same… even with different developers and architects they are very similar in appearance.

RobotDanceMonkey1975 August 17, 2015 - 4:49 pm

“architectural trends”

hauntedheadnc August 17, 2015 - 4:59 pm

The architectural style you refer to is known as “Charlotte Boring” because it’s a style that absolutely infests that city, and because — for whatever reason — it’s the guidepost style of the Charlotte Treasury of Contemporary Crap, bible for modern urban builders everywhere.

USS Smiley August 17, 2015 - 4:35 pm

1116 units? Dang, that’s gonna need to be a bit taller thank 4 stories 😉

jen August 17, 2015 - 8:29 pm

116 units

Woody August 17, 2015 - 4:11 pm

What happened to the doctor’s office on this lot? Ashvegas reported on it and all!

KG August 18, 2015 - 3:26 pm

That’s supposed to happen in the big empty lot on the corner of Hilliard and Clingman – around the corner from this apartment action.

indie July 21, 2015 - 1:13 pm

Sounds like a great idea. More apartment supply can only help downtown availability and prices.

Jason probably has better eyesight than I do, but it is hard to see his “Construction work to improve and expand the Western Carolina Rescue Ministries has been underway for several years”. Must be working at a world record slow pace.

The new developer should toss the mission some $ for improvements, including a new facade on the place. It is in dreadful condition currently. Could be important if want to attract tenants to the new apartments.

Sarah July 21, 2015 - 1:09 pm

Please offer some apartments that are 3000+ square feet!

retards August 17, 2015 - 10:00 pm

seriously??

Clair July 19, 2015 - 10:16 pm

This is interesting. A new apartment building right across the street from a homeless shelter? I doubt they will moving the homeless shelter anytime soon since they’ve been renovating/updating it for that purpose.

jen August 17, 2015 - 8:25 pm

yes, it will be interesting to see as our homeless population grows because no one can afford 800-1000 a month for a small apartment.

jen August 17, 2015 - 8:27 pm

now that Apex NC has been listed as the top place to live it will be interested to see if Asheville keeps growing. when Money magazine points to investment opportunities elsewhere and Asheville didn’t make the top 50 list.

Big Al August 18, 2015 - 9:53 am

Apex is only getting the attention because it is the newest bedroom community to serve the Research Triangle Park of Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill. Similar attention has been given to Cary (Containment Area for Relocated Yankees),Fuquay-Varina, Hillsborough, Carrboro, etc. Whoever’s turn it was for new Triangle BRC of the month.

This area has been growing steadily since the 1950s. That continuous growth did not affect the growth in Asheville in the last decade and will not affect it now.

The doctors, PhDs, engineers and chemists who move to RTP have no reason to even consider moving to Asheville. We will be lucky to attract a few more tele-commuting types, but can really only count on a continued stream of starry-eyed dreamers who somehow think that they will find more than a minimum wage and a trailer in the county.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it here, but I did my research before deciding to move here, and that was FROM the RTP area. I would RECOMMEND all of those disgruntled dreamers who routinely post here about low wages and poor housing: Get thee to RTP. It has much more to offer. You will have to get by without Asheville’s “spirit” or “vibe” (or WTF ever), but as I see it those attributes have been rapidly crushed by the drunken, loud, vomiting hordes that our new BEER CITY title have attracted.

luther blissett August 19, 2015 - 2:22 am

“I would RECOMMEND all of those disgruntled dreamers who routinely post here about low wages and poor housing: Get thee to RTP. It has much more to offer. ”

Or just get out of North Carolina, because the Triangle may have opportunities, but dear god it’s hot, dull and miserable.

Z August 18, 2015 - 5:35 pm

If you can’t afford 800-1000 for rent it’s time to move elsewhere. A lot of people can afford that.

Barchek Simtov July 19, 2015 - 6:39 pm

Asheville is the only mid-size American city without a replica of the Eiffel Tower, Asheville has until 2019 to finish this project or lose bilateral trade funding from the Sister Cities Initiative…maybe time to
make some tough choices…apts vs sustainability anyone?

hauntedheadnc July 19, 2015 - 4:25 pm

I hope the end product is a lot bigger. Four stories and 150 units is pathetic for downtown, and a waste of what available downtown land there is.

jtroop July 20, 2015 - 4:07 pm

I agree it should be as big as possible. But, at 600 sq ft per apartment (just a guess on average size) that’s 90k sq ft. That’s a decently-sized building.

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