Tags: Brevard, Brevard Lumber Yard, Transylvania County

For lease: Brevard Lumber Arts District space to restauranteur, bar or brewery owner

Jason Sandford January 14, 2014

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

Here’s a quick update about a project I’ve been following since it opened. It’s called the Brevard Lumber Arts District and it’s a unique space near downtown Brevard. Literally a lumberyard for a century, the space was purchased by a developer a couple of years ago who has an eye toward making the location home to a craft brewer, a great restaurant or some other use that benefits the community and pumps up the economy.

Josh Leder of Leder Properties bought the 2-acre property along King Street and initially talked about creating space for a variety of uses, from artist studios to a restaurant. The Brevard Lumber Arts District has hosted a variety of community events, from dinners to outdoor movies to iron pours. Leder landed his first tenant quickly – a second location for the Asheville-based Haen Gallery, a prominent contemporary art gallery.

Since then, Leder has finished out one building with a bar and bathrooms and is actively looking for a bar or restaurant operator to lease the space. (You see it in the photos posted here.) He and the Haen also worked together to commission a killer mural on one side of one of the lumberyard buildings.

The space is just begging for a crafter brewer, a cidery, a top-notch restaurant, a swank bar.

Consider this an advertisement if you like, but I’m not getting paid to write this. I want to spread the word and help Leder succeed because I think his heart is in the right place – he wants to build community and boost the local economy (and make a little money, too.) Also, I think Brevard is an up-and-coming town. It’s situated in beautiful Transylvania County, with stunning waterfalls and crazy awesome mountain biking trails. With Oskar Blues on its outskirts and Sierra Nevada opening soon some 20 minutes away in Mills River, Brevard is situated perfectly for folks interested in great beer and the great outdoors.