ASHEVILLE - After an Aug. 15 Design Review Committee meeting, the plan to convert 35 apartments in the historic Grove Arcade's into a hotel has moved forward. The developer's attorney said no physical modifications will be made to the building in the process. The city, which deemed the application incomplete in July, said it is waiting on developer revisions to review comments before the process continues.
Development attorney Jesse Swords said the applicants intend to preserve the building, proposing no design changes. Grove Arcade LLC, the company that manages the building's maintenance and leases, submitted the proposal for city review in May. The company is jointly owned by the Chicago-based real estate investment firm Northpond Partners and the Asheville-based Dewey Property Advisors
"No one wants to change the Grove Arcade. It's a centerpiece of our downtown," Swords said during the meeting.
E.W. Grove, the medicine manufacturer turned commercial and residential developer, financed the construction of the building that he conceived as "the most elegant building in America." The Grove Arcade, with its "eclectic Tudor Revival elements," was the first enclosed mall on the National Register of Historic Places. Before its renovation and restoration in the late 90's, the building served as the home for the National Weather Records Center — a federal organization later known as the National Climatic Data Center and now merged to create the National Centers for Environmental Information. Though Grove died in 1927, the Arcade, completed in 1929, carries his name.
More: Rare, 1925 N. Asheville home, with 'funky' tower, built by E.W. Grove goes on market
The plan to convert the building was first reported by Asheville Watchdog in April and a back-and-forth between the city and the lease managers, reported by the Citizen Times , indicates that the city was initially hesitant to allow the project to move forward. The main concern was over the ownership of the building.
The city took over ownership of the building in 1997 and then formed the Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to the maintenance and restoration of the historic building. The nonprofit has a lease of 99 years, with an optional 99-year renewal, and held leasing rights for the building since 1997.
Though the city still owns the building, the Grove Arcade Public Market Foundation has sublet the leases to Grove Arcade LLC. Because lease agreement hands development rights to both the Grove Arcade Foundation and its subletters, Swords wrote the city Legal Department in May advocating for the project to go forward, though the city had "questioned" whether it would need to give permission to Grove Arcade LLC for the project to go forward.
As the Design Review Committee primarily makes design-based comments on alterations, demolitions and new construction, comments by committee members on the proposal, which has no design changes, were minimal during the meeting. The proposal was unanimously approved.
Committee member Michael McDonough described the approval as somewhat of a "trap," as the committee is approving a new hotel, but isn't really making critiques as there are no design modifications to the historic building.
During public comment, however, founder of Rowhouse Architects Jeff Dalton noted that he had worked on the project during its renovation in the late 90s, when the "original plan was to make it a hotel."
After city staff review comments were sent to the developer in July, city spokesperson Kim Miller said Aug. 22 that city staff are still waiting for the submission of revised materials to address those comments.
Before the August review, Miller told the Citizen Times July 19 that the application had been deemed "incomplete" as "staff are working to obtain further information from the application to perform the requisite review."
Conversion plan would not 'kick everyone out' immediately
For many years, the apartments in the Grove Arcade have been put up for lease as long-term downtown housing, with the building offering one-bedroom and two-bedroom options, according to the Grove Arcade website. The hotel proposal indicates that 35 of the 42 total apartments would be converted into hotel rooms in the project.
During the meeting, Swords said that some of the apartments are currently occupied and the applicants do not plan to "kick everyone out and do the hotel use immediately."
"It will be, in part, determined by who's moving out when, when leases are up — that sort of thing," Swords said.
As for new guests coming to the hotel, Swords said a loading zone will be established in the parking lot below the Grove Arcade.
More: As recreational marijuana comes to NC, a Cherokee 'seed to sale' operation springs to life
More: Downtown developer to appeal city board to convert former unpermitted Airbnbs to hotel
Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Consider supporting this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Tim es.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Historic Grove Arcade hotel proposal sees forward momentum after city board approval
Local News
