For sale: Part of the Bledsoe Building on Haywood Road in West Asheville, a red-hot real estate zone

Jason Sandford

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

1

The news that part of the historic Bledsoe Building on Haywood Road in West Asheville – a red hot real estate zone – comes via the Orbit DVD letter sent out by Orbit owner Marc McCloud. The building is the largest building on Haywood Road and is, in many ways, a cornerstone of West Asheville. It is home to the following businesses: Orbit, Westville Pub, Beauty Parade, Haywood Road Market.

The Haywood Road corridor has changed dramatically in the last decade. A host of new independent restaurants and retail shops have opened the avenue, bringing with it an increased desire by people to live in the adjacent, affordable and walkable neighborhoods. Real estate in West Asheville is hot right now.

SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?

Now with The Clash in your head, time to give some major news. Some of you have heard, most have not, so I will make it public.

I knew that the year would come where some of The Bledsoe Building’s owners would want to sell. This is that year. The building is considered the hottest property in West Asheville, so the price and down payment is high, but worth it considering where it is.

With one kid in college and another quickly heading there, I have spent most of the winter hemming and hawing if it was worth staying at 781 Haywood. Could the store operate somewhere else? Should the store operate somewhere else?

Two things happened this spring which helped me make up my mind. The first was walking home on a beautiful spring day and counting about 100 people also walking on Haywood Rd. The second was a swelling sense of pride. You know why this block is so popular? It’s because Orbit helped make it popular! So hell yes, I am going to stay, or at least try to.

Like I said, a lot of the money at the Orbit household is tied up in more pressing matters, but many people are already pledging support, so expect some benefits and crowdsourcing in the near future. In the meantime, do what you’re doing and continue to support us. I like only having to walk a block to work, so I’m going to try everything in my power to make that happen.

More on the history of the Bledsoe Building:

Built in 1927, the Bledsoe Building is the largest building along Haywood Road, the main commercial corridor of West Asheville in the area of town west of the French Broad River. West Asheville had once been a separate town that developed along Haywood Road, which served as the main western turnpike from Asheville into Haywood County and further west during the mid-19th century. West Asheville was incorporated in 1889, but its charter was repealed in 1897 for reasons that remain unclear. The town was incorporated again in 1913, and was annexed into the City of Asheville on June 9, 1917, on a referendum that passed by only eight votes, indicating the desire by many to keep the area autonomous. Even today, West Asheville remains a distinct community within the City of Asheville, with its own businesses and residential neighborhoods. …

James T. Bledsoe, owner of JT Bledsoe & Company, a real estate and insurance firm, built the Bledsoe Building during the height of the commercial development of Haywood Road. Designed in a utilitarian Commercial style, considered a reaction to the more ornate Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival styles, the Bledsoe Building was erected as a two-story freestanding brick building with a modest pattern work of brick corbelling to divide the floors and form the cornice and a central parapet roofline.

The Bledsoe Building has undergone recent renovations and has once again rejuvenated Haywood Road with a natural foods grocery store, retail shops, restaurants and professional services. With its commanding size and central location along this corridor, the Bledsoe Building has been a catalyst for reinvestment and a commercial hub for the West Asheville community.