Biltmore Village is one of many Asheville neighborhoods that are recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
The historic district recently celebrated the first reopening of one of its retailers after the storm. Other reopenings are planned for this week and the coming months.
Benjamin Mitchell is vice president of administration for the Biltmore Property Group and chairman of the Historic Biltmore Village Association. Kara Irani is the group’s director of public relations.
BPR’s growth and development reporter, Felicia Sonmez, sat down with both to talk about the latest steps in the neighborhood’s recovery.
Below are excerpts of their interview, edited for length and clarity.
SONMEZ: What can you tell me about Biltmore Village’s recovery so far?
MITCHELL: Reopenings are a moving target. I would expect anywhere from 20 to 30% of the businesses in the Village as a whole will not return. We've been told that about several of the restaurants, unfortunately. As your listeners probably know, that is a tough business to begin with. … But the Corner Kitchen, which is one of our member businesses, has made huge strides towards their reopening. And it's my understanding … that they'll be ready sometime between Memorial Day and July 4th.
SONMEZ: How do people feel about rebuilding in this area, given the risk of potential flooding in the future?
MITCHELL: These folks with open eyes are willing to take risks, have the appetite for that risk and they will reap the rewards of taking it — or the consequences. So, our biggest concern is that we don't allow for bureaucracy and red tape to get in our way. … I think that we're making well-educated and calculated business decisions.
IRANI: One of the other pieces that is really important for all of the independent businesses that are here in Biltmore Village is preserving the historic nature of the area and ensuring that there is ongoing support and development around that that is very thoughtful towards preserving it for future generations as well. … The materials that were used to build the buildings here in the cottage district that we're sitting in right now are also very sturdy and very strong. … Biltmore Village buildings are still standing in spite of being underwater in some areas 19 or 20 feet.
But being on the river, there's always going to be a threat. … And there's a big piece of a public and private partnership that goes into maintaining the area so that we can continue to make it sustainable and solvent for businesses here and residents.
MITCHELL: We encourage your listeners to come and visit us. We're going to be a work in progress. And there's a lot to see that is positive. And we're not particularly interested in rehashing what happened in September. This is a historic event. There will be another flood. We know that. But we just hope that they're not as profound as this one.
SONMEZ: Is there anything that Biltmore Village business owners would like to see elected officials do in terms of helping them with rebuilding or just getting back on their feet?
MITCHELL: We've had a great working relationship with our city leaders, with our city staff, and I don't want to misconstrue that whatsoever. They've been attending our meetings; they’ve been helping us in the ways that they can, and we're grateful for that partnership. And we're hopeful that that will continue.
There's some legislation that is now being considered down in Raleigh. I believe it's Senate Bill 266. … And that bill, simply stated, is a measure that … makes exceptions for historical events of more than 200 years’ significance, which is exactly where we are and would allow for businesses to come in, rebuild, and it's a modification basically to the building code at its core.
SONMEZ: Is there anything else that you would like listeners to know about what's been happening here in Biltmore Village?
MITCHELL: We have recently received a donation from the Biltmore Company that was sizable, and others have also contributed in a meaningful way to the Asheville GreenWorks with funds earmarked for the cleanup and restoration of our public roads, right-of-ways and sidewalks. … And if anybody is willing or able to donate, we would encourage them to do so.
SONMEZ: So those are the folks that are out on the street, cleaning everything off, rebuilding?
MITCHELL: Those are private contractors hired by us — not FEMA, not the government — private enterprise, because we can't wait around until others have time to take care of our community. We're grateful for all the help that we get, but there's just such a magnitude to this effort in the region that we needed to go ahead and get it done now.
SONMEZ: How do you feel now having to pass by so much of the debris every day, but also holding onto hope that things are heading in a better direction?
IRANI: I'm an Ashville native, and this has been one of the most astoundingly challenging situations, but also one of the most inspiring situations that I've ever been a part of here. … The people who live and work here are very determined to make it — if not as beautiful and as vibrant as it was, more so, in the face of what we've seen.
MITCHELL: We're not fighting a war here. No one's shooting at us. I go home to my family every night, and when I walk out my door every morning, I walk by my grandfather's platoon photograph from World War II, when he went into the Pacific for three years. So, we can handle this.
We just need a little bit of support here and there. You know, some of our folks were underinsured. Some of them were uninsured. And they're going to need some more help. Others of us were well-capitalized. We deal with significant issues all the time. And no one wanted to deal with this. But we understood and took that risk. And we're going to see it through. And hopefully, all of our neighbors are able to do it as well.
The Historic Biltmore Village Association is planning to host a reopening party for the entire neighborhood in July. The Village is separate from the Biltmore Estate and includes more than 40 independent businesses.
