The Hotel Pipeline
The 104-room boutique Bohemian Hotel Biltmore Village is expected to open in January of 2009. This luxury hotel, part of the Kessler Collection, will offer amenities such as an art gallery, spa and fitness center, and 5,100 square feet of meeting space. The 165-room Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park is currently under construction in the Biltmore Park Town Square mixed-use development just south of Asheville. Expected to open in the summer of 2009, the property will feature a solar water-heating system that should help it achieve LEED certification as a “green” hotel. Construction started in the summer of 2008 on the Hotel Indigo Asheville, which will occupy the former site of the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Downtown. The 100-room hotel, which will also feature twelve luxury condominiums, is expected to open in early 2009.
The Ellington is an ambitious hotel and condominium project proposed for Downtown Asheville. The 23-story building would comprise 125 oversized guestrooms and 52 condominiums, including four penthouse suites. The project had initially come under fire from local residents who feared the building’s size and site would run afoul of traffic flow and pedestrian safety. Having since received favor from the Asheville City Council, the project is in the design development phase, with construction set to begin in 2009. Plans for the hotel include alternative-fuel guest shuttles, a laundry recycling system, and even an exterior lighting design that respects the flight patterns of certain migratory birds. The Ellington is projected to attain LEED certification when it opens in late 2010 or early 2011, an achievement shared by only a handful of North Carolina hotels.
The Ellington has also inspired a cooperative spirit in the Asheville community. The Grove Park Inn, a partner in the hotel’s development, will give guests full access to all of the Grove Park’s amenities. Furthermore, the developers have created a fund for the construction of affordable housing within one-half mile of the Central Business District; a percentage of each condominium sale at The Ellington will contribute to the fund for a period of 70 years, with additional contributions to come each time the hotel is sold before June 1, 2080.
Another upscale hotel project and a major renovation are also in the works. The Asheville City Council gave unanimous approval on October 14, 2008, for a seven-story hotel in Downtown Asheville. The developer, McKibbon Hotel Group, has proposed building an aloft hotel on the site; the aloft represents Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ new high-design, upscale, select-service brand. The project, which will also include a city-funded parking garage with spaces leased back to the hotel developer, is considered a “catalytic development” with the “. . . potential to stimulate additional investment or provide missing uses that are critical to maximizing downtown vitality.”2
The owner of the Haywood Park complex, which includes the Haywood Park Hotel, the Haywood Atrium, an interior parking garage, and a building and parking lot on Page Avenue, plans to refurbish the hotel property and lease empty space in the Atrium and Promenade.3
Conclusion
Tourism to Asheville shows no signs of letting up. The local hospitality industry thrives on this demand and in turn serves as a core driver for the economic growth of the greater Asheville area. Tourism generates a payroll of more than $600 million for local residents, more than 18,000 of which are employed in tourism-related jobs.4 The upscale lodging sector has expanded over the last several years, and new hotels are poised to change the face of Downtown Asheville in the future. This classic southern city retains its composure even in the midst of national economic trouble, and more bright years are expected to lie ahead.
Given the freefall that our economy is in, I doubt that most of the luxury hotels on the drawing board for Asheville will ever come out of the ground.
I rolled my eyes at this post until I read about all the fancy "green" stuff they’re doing. And how impressed am I with the migrating bird-safe lighting? VERY
"Tourism generates a payroll of more than $600 million for local residents, more than 18,000 of which are employed in tourism-related jobs." That is a lot of jobs paying less than a living wage. No wonder we have so many kids on free and reduced lunch.
Finally it sounds and looks like we are gong to get some jobs in Asheville. Let growth happen and we will all have jobs.
Let the hippies and trust fund babies have their way and we will all be out of work.