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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Here’s more of what’s going around, including the opening of Urban Orchard Cider Co.’s new location on the South Slope in downtown Asheville. Here we go:

-It looks like Al’s Art Craft boat and auto upholsterer on Haywood Road in West Asheville has closed. Anyone have any details? The company has worked on everything from church pews to restaurant seats, as well as cars and boats, since its started in Asheville in 1959.

-Urban Orchard has opened its second Asheville location at 24 Buxton Ave. The tap room and production facility will allow the cider operation to double production, and gives Urban Orchard a primo location in the heart of the South Slope, which is also known as Asheville’s brewing district because of the location of so many brewery/distillery operations. Look for info about a grand opening party coming soon.

-The wholesale redevelopment of portion of Biltmore Avenue (once called Main Street in downtown Asheville) is well underway. The section of Biltmore that’s changing sits between Wild Wing Cafe on the south end and Bar Taco to the north. So what’s happening? First, site work is underway on the south end for a new 7-story condo building containing about 25 condos on the site of a former barbershop. Moving up the hill, plans are in the works to create a 56-room lodging facility that includes the three historic houses at 123, 129 and 134 Biltmore, as well as new construction at 155 Biltmore Avenue. All this development has frontage on both Biltmore Avenue and South Lexington Avenue, and it’s being done by the same developer.

-The Chihuly glass art exhibition at Biltmore Estate was a runaway success. It closed on Sunday and the pieces will be dismantled over the next two weeks. What’s next for Biltmore Estate exhibitions? A display of painstaking reproductions of clothing the Vanderbilts and their guests would have worn during Gilded Age (late 1880s) parties at the grand mountain manse.

-Construction work has begun on the former JJ’s Tire and Wheel building at the corner of Buxton and Southside avenues. The site is being remodeled into a home for Foundry South Slope, a purveyor of coffee and espresso.

-PennyCup Coffee’s new coffee shop at 857 Merrimon Ave. has opened. The shop is PennyCup’s fourth location (they’ve got coffee shops at 39 S. Market St. the YMI building downtown, at 362 Depot Street in the River Arts District and 6 Beverly Road in east Asheville), and owners say at least two more locations are in the works.

Evergreen Community Charter School is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Cheers!

Earth Equity Advisors’ annual speaker series returns for its fifth year at 6 p.m. on Oct. 18. Peter Krull will moderate a discussion with Nzinga Shaw, the chief diversity and inclusion officer of the Atlanta Hawks and Philips Arena, and the first person to hold this position in the National Basketball Association, and Betsy Moszeter, COO at Green Alpha Advisor, as they discuss the importance and benefits of inclusion, both in finance and across every industry. The event is free, but you need to reserve a ticket.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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