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Two historic WNC institutions partner to transform corner of downtown Asheville

A sketch from the conceptual masterplan submitted to the City of Asheville lays out the plan that includes a new YMCA, hotel, parking deck, green space/park, office space, and retail.
Furman Co.
A sketch from the conceptual masterplan submitted to the City of Asheville lays out the plan that includes a new YMCA, hotel, parking deck, green space/park, office space, and retail.

Two historic institutions are partnering to transform 10 acres in downtown Asheville as a mixed-use development that helps meet community needs for affordable workforce housing, early childhood development and education, health and well-being. The First Baptist Church of Asheville and the YMCA of Western North Carolina announced the new venture, "Project Aspire," this week.

“At almost one-million gross square feet, this is by far the largest project currently under review in the City of Asheville,” Principal Planner Will Palmquist told BPR in an email response about the project.

According to a joint press release, “Project Aspire” will prioritize sustainable building systems, public green spaces, and pedestrian connectivity, ensuring that the development is environmentally responsible and accessible to all. It will feature:

  • affordable and market-rate housing options
  • new state-of-the art YMCA
  • business incubation space
  • green spaces and outdoor gathering areas
  • hospitality with meeting space
  • office buildings
  • community-oriented retail shops
  • restaurants
  • ample structured parking

The lead real estate development partner, Furman Co. from Greenville, S.C. recently presented a conceptual masterplan in a conditional zoning application to the City of Asheville.

The plan in a nutshell: The site will be developed in two phases over the next 10 years. Pending approval by the city, the earliest construction could start is the end of 2024. Phase 1 would involve the development of the area between the church’s side entrance and College Street, including building the new YMCA, hotel, parking deck, green space/park, office space, and retail. Phase 2 would develop the property between the church and the current Asheville YMCA into a mixture of affordable, workforce, and market rate housing, offices, retail, parking, and green space.

First Baptist Church of Asheville’s historic structure will not move or be altered in any way. The new Y will be built between Charlotte Street, Oak Street and Woodfin Street, and the existing Asheville Y on Woodfin Street will remain open during construction.

BPR
YMCA of WNC CEO President Paul Vest and First Baptist Senior Pastor Mack Dennis in the church sanctuary.

To find out more, BPR’s Helen Chickering sat down with the YMCA CEO/President Paul Vest and First Baptist Senior Pastor Mack Dennis.

HC: You two are neighbors.  Is there a way to describe what's about to happen?

MD: So, the First Baptist Church and the YMCA became friends about five years ago with a common dream to address some of the critical needs that Asheville has for affordable housing, childcare and for small businesses. And we decided that we could do a lot more together on our common property - the city block that we share downtown - than we could do by ourselves. And for the past five years, we've been working together to bring the neighborhood back.

PV: It started over parking conversations. When we first approached the church with some work that we had been doing regarding the redevelopment of the downtown YMCA, they were thinking we were wanting more parking. We were talking about something a little different, and then they rolled out their plans that they had been working on independently. So, I think the two organizations, historical institutions in our community coming together and saying, we need to do something that's in the best interest of both the church, the Y and certainly our community really kind of gave life to this opportunity.

HC: So  both groups had plans -  and you merged them? Tell me how this all played out.

MD: We did have our own versions of plans that didn't include the other at certain points. And when we finally discovered each other - that's when really sparks began to fly. And when we combined our imaginations and our hopes, our passions and our resources, we discovered that we could really make an impact that Asheville has not ever seen. And perhaps an impact on the kinds of things that are really frustrating. Lots of people - especially young people in the workforce, downtown employees, teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers - all the folks that are having a hard time getting here or staying here for many reasons - are the kind of folks we began to dream about helping with this.

HC: How do you describe the project,  what do you see it becoming? Help us see it.

PV: So the master plan, as it's currently exists, and there's time that there's going to be tweaks and pushes - basically moves the YMCA from its current location to a new location where the existing One Oak Plaza building is - and will also include some office, some retail, parking deck and a hotel.
The interesting part of this is that during the city’s hotel moratorium, this location that the church owns was identified as one of the four locations that the city was approving for a hotel. And so the developer that we engaged, The Furman Co. out of Greenville was brilliant in saying, let's work with the city - their planning and their work, so the hotel became a viable piece of this.

The YMCA moving into this new location allows us to operate for the two years or so that it would need to be down as we are constructing the new Y. The second phase of that project would include more office retail that we're hoping could be a minority owned, women owned incubator space, as well as substantial housing and another parking deck.

HC: Tell me about the housing. What that will look like, things like capacity?

MD: So, on phase two of the project, which is the sanctuary side, it slopes down to where the current YMCA is - and will include as Paul said, housing, small business spaces, some office space where the plans include a kind of Wall Street - Asheville style type alley with mom and pop shops and things like that, and a housing tower. We're dreaming of hundreds of housing units, we don't know how many of those will be affordable – but what we're really planning towards a really substantial number of those being some level of affordable housing - the likes of which Asheville has not seen. That's really, the heart of the missional part of this project, as we see it.

HC: Talk about the price tag. How will this be paid for?

 PV: From the Y’s perspective, we will need to raise community dollars to help build a substantial facility. So we will be out fundraising publicly, a capital campaign. So our stack on our building alone will be partly the sale of our property, ideally to an affordable housing developer - that will go into that building, then also the charitable contributions. There's all kinds of tax credit dollars out there as well. So we're looking for those individuals who really see this as a community opportunity to give from a philanthropic standpoint to help create a community.

HC: And from the church's standpoint?

MD: So the church will keep most of its land. We plan to sell a half-acre lot to a hotelier that we imagine being integrated into the community and being a co-investor and really a neighbor for this dream that will serve as an economic engine for the church and allow us to help the Y build their building.

HC:  Have you sought input of other groups, community groups? Who have you reached out to?

MD: For more than a year now, we've been speaking with our nearest neighbors, community organizers, congregational leaders city council, people who have grown up in Asheville who are currently serving on the council. I would say every organization and individual we reached out for the first 10 months or so, were all African American leaders or community organizers. Because really this story didn't begin five years ago - well, it did for the church - but the story began with urban renewal and which really destroyed the East End Valley Street and other Black neighborhoods back in the fifties, sixties, seventies and destroyed Black wealth, took people out of their homes and moved them into project housing and destroyed their businesses, their churches. So we have seen this as an opportunity not only to really build back the neighborhood and do this in a way that can be beneficial to those who were living in those neighborhoods and who had their homes and taken away their families broken up,

HC: I imagine there are trust issues -  especially living in a tourist town, where affordable all of a sudden becomes out of reach.  

PV: It starts with the investment in the project, and I think having key stakeholders that are committed to that work and, and connecting with us in partnership to make sure these things happen. Our early design of that building includes substantial community space that can be used for community meetings and educational classes. So for us, it's just a kind of a no-brainer. This is what we do programmatically and we're now going to have the opportunity to do that in a much better environment by building a new facility.

But it's also that, just that recommitment to the community. We have a history with our Market street Y that used to be in the YMI building years ago, and was closed down when the downtown Y was built, and with the whole sense that that needed to be an integrated Y and we needed to serve all. But in reality, when you look back on history, you realize that was a huge part of that, the fabric of that community that was taken away from them. So we look at this as really, as Mack said, a real opportunity to reopen some doors, build those trusting relationships that we know are go taking to time.

HC: Fast forward and imagine it’s a reality. Can you see the tenants, people who might be living there and what does that look like? Like what might a day look like for them?

MD: So in my mind's eye I see, a young teacher and their family or maybe they're just newly married and starting a family - they have a place to call home right in downtown. And most of the time, most days, they may not even need a car. We hope that they'll be able to walk their dog in the green space, the little park that we've carved out in front of the portico of the church, that they'll be able to hit the grocery store or maybe a pub or some of the small businesses that pop up along the alleyway that they'll be able to either begin or end their day right over at the Y or take a stroll downtown. So really, it’s a place to live, to, to thrive and flourish. It's a place to be a good neighbor and to enjoy good neighbors. And it's a really, a place, a walkable village that inspires you - its architecture and, it's position in the city - a place to call home - for people of all ages to enjoy and thrive in.

 PV: I have this image that there's a volunteer from the church and there was a volunteer from the Y and we're taking a loaf of bread and a guest pass to the Y and knocking on a door and, and welcoming newcomers to the community. And then on a Friday night and we bring in food trucks, that it really becomes that social opportunity for locals to really participate back in downtown, which you're, we're now beginning to see a real exodus of locals coming downtown. So we see this as really an opportunity to help engage the greater community in the downtown environment in this little corner of Asheville.

YMCA is a BPR business sponsor.
This Transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Helen Chickering is a host and reporter on Blue Ridge Public Radio. She joined the station in November 2014.