PHOTOS New AC Hotel Asheville Downtown aims for fall opening

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Jason Sandford

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

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The new AC Hotel Asheville Downtown is coming together at the corner of College and Broadway streets. The 9-story, 132-room AC Hotel brand by Marriott is scheduled to open later this fall.

The hotel has a four-story parking deck with 336 spaces, a top-floor meeting space and a rooftop bar. The McKibbon Hospitality project is the latest Asheville hotel by owner John McKibbon, who owns several hotels in town, including the Aloft Hotel on Biltmore Avenue.

This is the first AC Hotel in the Carolinas, according to a press release. “The brand is considered to be in the upper-moderate tier and falls between select-service and full-service. AC Hotels are designed for creative, well-traveled entrepreneurial spirits who are constantly on the go,” according to a press release. The release goes on to say that the design of the rooms is “sleek, crisp and elegant.”

The entire top floor will be reserved for dining and meetings, according to the press release, with a rooftop bar that features indoor and outdoor seating. The lobby of the building will also have informal meeting space and free wi-fi.

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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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9 Comments

  1. Mike May 4, 2016

    Hey Guys, FYI I was being MAJORLY sarcastic, I thought that was clear….. The point was that this new hotel is loads better than the old structure, I was trolling the argument that the new development is bad, I’m all for it!!!

    Reply
  2. luther blissett May 4, 2016

    What’s there makes clear that the stretch of College that the AC shares with the Biltmore building is still going to be miserable at pedestrian level. McKibbon sure knows how to build parking garages. The lobby’s going to be a strange space as well, because everything that’s ‘hotel’ about the AC starts up an elevator.

    It’s still a wasted opportunity to do more than replace a terrible old parking garage in the middle of downtown with a slightly less terrible parking garage in the middle of downtown.

    Reply
    1. Gary May 4, 2016

      Actually that’s not true. I’ve seen the plans and there will definitely be ground level pedestrian activity. The lobby and the addition of the hotel’s street level retail will both be oriented towards achieving this goal. McKibbon has also committed to local shops filling those spaces. So I think overall it makes great use of that property.

      Reply
      1. luther blissett May 10, 2016

        “there will definitely be ground level pedestrian activity”

        On College, or just on Broadway? Actually, nothing in the plans suggests that it’s going to make the College section of frontage hospitable at pedestrian level: it’s mostly going to be parking deck and vehicle entrances. I’ll grant that McKibbon has said that the lobby is going to be more than just a desk and elevator to the upper hotel levels, but that’s still focused on Broadway, and leaves a chunk of downtown a dead zone.

        Reply
  3. weavervilleman May 3, 2016

    dear mike,
    Many people are like you, but you and they need to get on with the time. Id rather have some property near the new hotel/parking deck that will LIKELY make my property tax and revenue improve rather than make it look like CRAP! The old parking deck that was there was dysfunctional and would probably become a MAJOR safety hazard. Would you like to see it remain and in 5 years something goes wrong like an oversized vehicle or a weather hazard affect the structure and have it reduced to rubble potentially making other buildings unsafe and have College Street and US 25/ Broadway Street intersection INACCESSIBLE for MONTHS at a time???? Yeah ME EITHER! So you and the rest of those HIPPIES just ponder that for a while

    Reply
  4. IceNine May 3, 2016

    Except that the old parking deck was incredibly unsafe/structurally deficient….

    Reply
  5. Jay May 3, 2016

    Any word on restaurants or restauranteurs that will be involved?

    Reply
    1. Jason Sandford May 9, 2016

      Jay, I haven’t heard yet.

      Reply
  6. Mike May 3, 2016

    eh – I don’t know, I kinda liked the old (pee stained) parking deck that was there before. This new construction is taking away what made Asheville great. New stuff is bad. Old run down, sketchy, scary parking decks were the heart and soul of Asheville. It’s a shame to see what these ‘developers’ are doing to our old rustic architecture. Shame on them.

    Reply

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