New Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Asheville prepares to open

Jason Sandford

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

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The new Hilton Garden Inn at the corner of College and Charlotte streets in downtown Asheville is set to open at the end of August. The 150-room hotel is part of the new City Centre office complex. It’s also part of a wave of downtown hotel construction that will make hundreds of new rooms available to visitors.

The Buncombe County TDA says that about 1,600 new hotel rooms are set to open in Buncombe County over the next three years, which is about a 25 percent increase. Hoteliers, worried about a drop occupancy rates and a corresponding drop in the room rates they can charge, last year pushed for an increase in the county’s hotel room tax, which is spent on advertising and marketing aimed at increasing tourism in Buncombe County.

The City Centre project includes the hotel, a 250-space parking deck, and office space, some of which has already been leased. Those tenants include: BB&T bank, for an office and retail location; the Asheville law firm of Roberts & Stevens; and Clark Nexsen Architecture and Engineering.

The City Centre project by owners/developers Rusty Pulliam and John Spake is being constructed by Vannoy Construction.