A community planning body on addressing homelessness narrowly endorsed in a vote Thursday night a new proposal for the site of the former Ramada Inn.
The old hotel property in East Asheville has been unused for three years, with the building and land foreclosed upon after a prior public-private partnership imploded. BPR has previously reported that the out-of-state team behind Asheville's prior Ramada Inn project was unsuccessful in launching several other housing projects aimed at addressing homelessness in North Carolina.
Thursday’s vote by board members of the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care (CoC) came after a heated debate over the project’s funding and management – and after a panel tasked with evaluating the project recommended against moving forward. Discussion, and a final vote, now moves to the Asheville City Council.
The developer is asking for $1.5 million from city-controlled funds for supportive services for residents.
Brian Methvin chairs the CoC’s funding committee, which was tasked with evaluating the proposal. During a lengthy presentation Thursday, he told board members the project has “a very high degree of economic risk." He said there are many unanswered questions about the development partner’s finances and security plan.
“Given the economics of this project… and the open issues that we’ve got, we did not feel, as a funding committee, that we could recommend to the CoC that you should pass on a recommendation to the city at this time,” Methvin told the board.
The stakes are high for Asheville’s unhoused population: the city has more than 200 people in need of permanent supportive housing.
Friendship for Affordable Housing, the organization behind the latest proposal, says it would provide 113 units of permanent supportive housing at the former Ramada site.
The group pitched its plan after the former developer, Shangri-La, lost the property to foreclosure. Several individuals who previously worked for Shangri-La have key roles in the FFAH project – a fact that has drawn scrutiny from some CoC board members.
FFAH has also asked the City of Asheville to provide $1.5 million to help fund supportive services at the site for three years.
Thursday’s vote was 7-to-6 in favor, with one recusal.
The board members voting “no” raised concerns about a variety of issues, including the project’s leadership, its financial viability, security arrangements, and the lack of outreach to the surrounding community members.
Those voting “yes” argued that the city urgently needs to move forward to provide shelter for the unhoused, and that it is worth taking on some risk to achieve that goal.
Katie Miller was one of several CoC board members who voted “yes.” She argued that the city should look into the issue before it closes “a door that is so needed,” and that Friendship for Affordable Housing has received good reviews for other projects it’s worked on.
“In the spirit of all of us needing these units so much – there’s so much enthusiasm and hope, and we’ve already kind of been on a rollercoaster with this particular property,” Miller said. “So, we don’t want to – in our zeal – overlook or smooth [things] over. And on the other hand, we’re at risk of losing ARPA [funding]; we’re potentially at risk of losing this property. And so, I’m trying to balance all that I’ve heard.”
Among the issues raised by the funding committee was the security plan for the site.
Initially, the FFAH plan was to have three security personnel working a total of 15 shifts per week, at an annual cost of $140,000. By contrast, Homeward Bound’s Compass Point Village, which has 85 permanent supportive housing units in East Asheville, is staffed by three security personnel 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for a total of 63 shifts a week, Methvin said.
After talks with the committee, FFAH revised its plan to include 35 shifts a week, with one security employee working during business hours and two working during non-business hours. The new security budget would be $300,000 a year, with security personnel being paid a rate of $20.50 an hour.
Another security concern raised by the committee is that residents and visitors would not be screened by security staff upon entering the building; rather, residents would have access 24/7 via electronic key card.
Notably, Homeward Bound had initially been expected to handle property management and security for the project. But Methvin announced Thursday night that the organization withdrew from those responsibilities and another entity, Over-Brook Management, has been substituted instead.
Over-Brook was “a late addition” and the funding committee did not have time to do any due diligence on them, he added.
Representatives from FFAH attended Thursday’s meeting via speakerphone and attempted to answer board members’ questions about the project.
The meeting went nearly an hour over schedule amid the discussion. At one point, a CoC board member suggested the body not vote at all and simply leave the issue for the Asheville City Council to decide.
Ultimately, the board voted to recommend the FFAH proposal but also urged the city’s Housing and Community Development Committee and City Council to consider the points raised by the funding committee.
CoC board member April Burgess-Johnson, who is executive director of the anti-domestic violence nonprofit Helpmate, made the motion that was approved by the board.
“My new motion is that we recommend that we move this project forward and that we further recommend to HCD and City Council that when they contract for services or investments in this project, that they consider the concerns of the funding committee in constructing contingencies into the contracts,” Burgess-Johnson said.
The Housing and Community Development Committee, a subcommittee of the City Council, will consider the proposal at its monthly meeting next Tuesday. The full City Council will take up the issue at its next meeting later this month.
