Downtown Asheville bank building sold; what’s next?

Jason Sandford December 3, 2012

Jason Sandford

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

The Wells Fargo bank building, which has been up for sale all year, recently sold, according to word on the street. The building flanks Pritchard Park. It’s address is actually 1 Haywood St. The asking price was $2.8 million. Here’s a little more of a building description.

A company listed as Ocean-Asheville reportedly bought the Wells-Fargo building. The registered agent for the company is based out of Charlotte, and the address listed is a Sheraton Hotel. The company’s principle office is is a Miami Beach address for Oceanside Resorts, which develops commercial, hotel and retail space.

The nearby Bank of America building on Patton Avenue was also up for sale earlier this year. Bank of America closed its branch operating out of the building closed this summer. No word on the status of this building.

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Jason Sandford

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

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17 Comments

orulz December 4, 2012

Crazy thought: a department store. Macy’s for example. They don’t have a presence in WNC. This is right next to Urban Outfitters.

Some would scream bloody murder I’m sure over the presence of a chain retailer like that downtown, but then again the last department store (JC Penney) only moved out of downtown 20 years ago.

Think about it. The building is 90,000 square feet. This is the right size for a department store. It even LOOKS like a department store (they don’t need or want a lot of windows.) They could just snazz it up a bit with window displays on ground level. The biggest problem is parking. 40 spaces in the basement isn’t nearly enough so add two levels to the Rankin deck across the street (it was built for this in the first place) and build a skybridge across College.

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1. Josephine December 5, 2012
  
  Orulz,
  
  This is the best comment of the whole series. Perfect use for this location and its building style without having Asheville becoming a mini-New York.
  
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  1. orulz December 5, 2012
    
    Well, in a manner of speaking this would turn Asheville into a mini New York, given the extremely large Macy’s on 34th street.
    
    But this would give a lot of locals who seldom if ever venture downtown a reason to go. Such a discussion would prompt a lot of questions about the nature of retail downtown. Conventional retail like this is a big departure from the restaurants and quirky shops that have sprung up since about 1990, but actually brings us closer to what downtown was like from 1900-1970. Quite a few of the buildings downtown were actually built by department stores: Ivey’s, Penney’s, Sears, etc.
    
    The property tax card actually shows this as closer to 100,000sf. Four floors of 25,000sf each.
    
    The cladding will need work, and of course a complete interior overhaul, including escalators, but no big structural changes. I think it could work.
    
    If this is developed as a hotel, the building will almost certainly come down. The gigantic floorplates of this building are the exact opposite of what you would need to make a hotel work.
    
    Reply
Jabob December 3, 2012

Please make it something awesome and not lame…

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1. Orbit DVD December 4, 2012
  
  Skating rink/laser tag.
  
  Reply
  1. Yocal December 4, 2012
    
    Hopefully another Brewery!!
    
    Reply
  2. Jabob December 5, 2012
    
    Awesome indeed!
    
    Reply
steve feingold December 3, 2012

@Jane Robinson… Can you tell me what expertise you have in that area? I think the free market will determine what Asheville can support, not some arrogant liberal.

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1. Syd Barrett December 4, 2012
  
  Sorry Feingold, unless the current downtown hotels are running at full capacity, the last thing Asheville needs is another tourist hotel. By the way, there is no such thing as a free market in the US, do some research.
  
  Reply
Kevin Greene December 3, 2012

Condos for us non-trustfund people would be great! (I do not expect this to happen in the slightest)

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Murphy December 3, 2012

The buyers are a “hospitality group” … that’s why the office is in a Sheraton.

Anybody know how much of the building is occupied … they could very easily leave the bank entrance on Haywood, and place a hotel entrance on Patton … with permits and City “blessings” of course

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Jane Robinson December 3, 2012

Just hope that someone doesn’t want to build another boutique hotel! Just what ISN”T needed.

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1. Orbit DVD December 3, 2012
  
  Something like the Interstate Motel would be excellent.
  
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2. Chris Dahlquist December 3, 2012
  
  Why wouldn’t a hotel be 1000% better than an ugly, 70’s style bank? Especially right across from the park…
  
  Reply
  1. Jason W. December 4, 2012
    
    Agreed.
    
    Reply
Ellen S. B. December 3, 2012

The address is 1 Haywood Street. Haywood Road is in West Asheville. This is a common mistake among newcomers to Asheville.

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1. Jason Sandford December 3, 2012
  
  Thank you Ellen. I’ve corrected. I’m not a newcomer, just a too-fast typist.
  
  Reply