47 replies to this topic

[orulz]

Thanks for the photo update. Looks nice. One comment I have is that I wish the sidewalks along Biltmore Avenue (or is it called Hendersonville Rd there?) had the planting strips between the sidewalk and the street, not between the building and the sidewalk. This must be because of NCDOT's stupid regulations for keeping the right of way "Free of obstructions".

[ct36]

orulz, on Mar 1 2009, 01:31 AM, said:

Thanks for the photo update. Looks nice. One comment I have is that I wish the sidewalks along Biltmore Avenue (or is it called Hendersonville Rd there?) had the planting strips between the sidewalk and the street, not between the building and the sidewalk. This must be because of NCDOT's stupid regulations for keeping the right of way "Free of obstructions".

It is still Hendersonville Road until you get across the really old bridge. I am pretty sure that it is one of the bridges slated for replacement in Asheville. The hotel is now open and is actually called the 'Grand Bohemian Hotel'.

[thecowgoesmoo]

orulz, on Jan 14 2008, 08:31 AM, said:

Did you happen to notice if they dug below grade for the Manor House? I know they were digging about a half story below grade for the parking for the main hotel.

The parking...isn't it across the street? I heard that they had to do away with the parking under the hotel because of height issues...some electrical or plumbing lines were miscalculated and were in the way of the parking deck entrance slope.

Interesting building.

[orulz]

I'm pretty sure, from pictures by rooster8 and the Citizen-Times, that there is parking on the bottom floor of both the main hotel and the "manor house."

If they ran into a problem late in the design or even construction phase where something didn't line up and electrical/plumbing lines were in the way of the parking deck, first of all I hope they fired whoever was responsible for drawing those plans. Second, electric and plumbing lines can be rerouted easily. No reason to scrap an element (the underground parking) that certainly added millions to the overall cost of the project.

Also, to answer my own question - looking at rooster8's pictures, it seems like the parking for the "manor house" is at street level.

But wow - this is such an improvement over the Exxon and Pedro's Porch. I wouldn't mind it if all of Biltmore Village got developed into classy upscale boutique stuff, because that's basically what it is today anyway.

On that subject, if you look earlier in this thread, there was a project to build a hotel where the old Plaza Motel used to be. That seems to have bit the dust: the March HRC agenda has an item labeled "New restaurant construction" with the address listed as 26 All Souls Crescent.

[orulz]

orulz, on 26 April 2008 - 09:43 AM, said:

Continuing the pattern of new dense development in and around Biltmore Village, there's a new project called "Silverman Mixed Use" proposed for a narrow lot on Swannanoa River Road near Biltmore Village. Plans include dedicating the ground level to parking, putting a 14,395 sq ft grocery store, and several other retail spaces on the second level, and topping it off with 4 levels of residential.

The fact that this is a flood zone leads to the disappointing design decision of dedicating the ground level to parking. However, it does seem that there will be a walkway that extends the entire length of the building's second level, which could serve kind of like a sidewalk.

Check the elevations and site plan on the Development Mapper.

This location is pretty well cut off from Biltmore Village proper, but it seems like it would be technically possible to build a street linkage from Reed street in BV over the tracks to Decatur Street, and then across the Swannanoa River from Thompson Street to Swannanoa River Road. The 2004 Wilma Dykeman Riverway plan calls for several new connections across the Swannanoa. While this isn't one of them, why couldn't it be? Such a connection would also be very important, since the proposed train station is along Decatur Street.

Silverman has been redesigned & resubmitted. It's been split into 2 buildings and the site plan is marginally different but the general concept seems the same. Parking on the first floor, 20,000 square feet of retail on the second, and 197 residential units above. It's now called The Manor at Biltmore Village. See it here on the (you guessed it) Development Mapper.

197 units on 5 acres means about 40 units per acre - that's pretty damn dense. And actually, even the 5 acre figure is a bit deceptive - .8 acres of the property being planned for development is actually on the other side of Swannanoa River Road (aka, right on top of the Swannanoa River, therefore completely unbuildable, and only being included to transfer additional density to the buildable lot.)

I would hope that the city will require the developer to build a greenway along the Swannanoa River in front of this project, or at least give money to Riverlink as a fee-in-lieu arrangement or something.

[hauntedheadnc]

There's no elevations, of course, but the new design seems classier at first glance.

[rooster8]

Not a lot to report (compared to the old days), but I thought it worth noting that the old BP is now a fancy market/c-store.  They still sell gas, but they no longer work on cars.

Exciting, I know!

[mediamongrel]

rooster8, on 10 May 2012 - 06:58 PM, said:

Not a lot to report (compared to the old days), but I thought it worth noting that the old BP is now a fancy market/c-store.  They still sell gas, but they no longer work on cars.

Exciting, I know!

It's a decent place for a gas station but only if you're heading south on Hendersonville Road.  If you are heading north towards town, you would have to jump towards the McDowell side for easy exit and entry into the station.  Most people who know about that area stay away from it, especially after 3PM M-F, and all the time on weekends.  Too many lights and congestion.