Development roundup: Ingles to redevelop Patton Kmart site

Patton Avenue Ingles rendering
BIG BOX: Ingles Markets plans to bring an 89,000-square-foot store to a former Kmart location on Patton Avenue. Graphic courtesy of the city of Asheville

City of Asheville

The public will be able to provide input on two developments at the Planning and Zoning Commission meeting at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 6. The Design Review Committee meets at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, April 21; the agenda for that meeting was not available as of press time. Both groups will meet remotely.

Planning and Zoning Commission

Members of the public can submit comments over email and voicemail until 24 hours prior to the April 6 meeting or provide live comments during the meeting itself. Instructions on how to attend and comment are available at avl.mx/8b6.

Deaverview Infill Apartments (275 Deaverview Road, 28806)

The current application concerns the first of two phases to rebuild Deaverview Apartments. This first phase will consist of three buildings, the largest of which will contain 48 one-bedroom units and 10 two-bedroom units over four stories.

The Asheville Housing Authority is requesting that the zoning status of the Deaverview Apartments be changed from Residential Multi-Family High-Density to Residential Expansion – Conditional Zone. This change is required because the project includes over 50 residential units.

All units are designed to be affordable for households earning 60% or less of the average median income ($31,600 for an individual or $45,300 for a family of four); an unspecified number of units will be affordable at incomes of 30% and 50% AMI.

All available documents, including application forms and site plans, are available at avl.mx/bex.

Ingles #122 Patton Avenue (1001 Patton Ave., 28806)

Ingles Markets is requesting a zoning change from Highway Business to Commercial Expansion – Conditional Zone to redevelop a 14.45-acre site at the intersection of Patton and Louisiana avenues. The company intends to construct an 89,000-square-foot Ingles Market at the former Kmart location, along with a 6,500-square-foot Ingles pump station and 55,000 square feet of additional retail space.

The grocer’s engineering firm has requested that the minimum 10-foot width for sidewalks on the site be waived due to the property’s steep slope. A traffic study commissioned by the developer has recommended adding left-turn lanes from Patton Avenue eastbound onto Louisiana Avenue, as well as from Florida Avenue northbound onto Patton Avenue. A right-hand overlap lane is also proposed on Louisiana Avenue onto Patton Avenue westbound.

Application materials, including site plans and the traffic study, are available at avl.mx/bf1.

Design Review Committee

Redwood Commons (21 Governors View Road, Asheville, 28805)

Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, a Columbus, Ohio-based developer, is seeking to erect an 18,500-square-foot apartment building containing 70 one- and two-bedroom units for affordable senior living near the Swannanoa River. At their March 17 meeting, committee members suggested pursuing a more modern exterior look and finding a way to distinguish the building at the front of the development from the others.

The project will be resubmitted to the April 21 meeting for another review. Documents for the proposal can be viewed at avl.mx/baj.

The Artful Way (31 Artful Way, 28801)

On March 17, the committee informally reviewed plans for this six-story, mixed-use development on roughly 0.75 acres in the River Arts District. The proposed building, adjacent to The Grey Eagle and across from All Souls Pizza, will contain 34 residential units, 27 hotel rooms, approximately 1,400 square feet of retail space and 42 parking spaces.

Informal reviews allow project teams to speak with DRC members before plans have been fully developed to identify early concerns. Formal reviews require that plans and drawings meet submission requirements and are accompanied by a staff report before the project is presented and voted upon at the meeting.

Three of the seven members present at the meeting recused themselves: Jeremy Goldstein, the project’s developer; Christina Booher, an employee of Laura Hudson Architecture, the project’s design firm; and Steven Lee Johnson, co-principal of Sitework Studios, the project’s landscape architecture firm.

Overall, the four remaining members of the committee considered the design well-suited to Asheville and made only minor suggestions. Detailed documents are available at avl.mx/bah.

Swannanoa River Greenway

Also at the March 17 meeting, the DRC formally reviewed and approved the plan for the first segment of the Swannanoa Greenway. The 0.84-mile path consists of two sections, beginning with a trailhead at Glendale Avenue that will connect to an existing greenway behind Walmart. The second segment will be a separated, buffered greenway connecting the Walmart parking lot to the Bleachery Boulevard bridge and a pedestrian corridor.

The project will be reviewed by City Council sometime in the summer. If approved, construction would begin in the fall.

Buncombe County

Three projects requiring special use permits will be on the agenda for the Buncombe County Board of Adjustment meeting at noon Wednesday, April 13. One of these, the Crescent Hill Apartments project, was continued from the March 9 meeting.

Information on how to attend the meeting and apply for comment can be found at avl.mx/anq.

Board of Adjustment

Crescent Hill Apartments (180, 184, 188 and unaddressed parcel on Crescent Hill Drive, unaddressed parcel on Watson Road, Arden, 28704)

Southwood Realty Co., based in Gastonia, has applied to build a 252-unit multifamily apartment complex on 24.6 acres in Arden. The complex will include 10 three-story apartment buildings, four one-story garages, and a one-story clubhouse with fitness facilities. Potential recreational areas include a pool, playground and dog park. A staff report by the Buncombe County Planning & Development department raised concerns about traffic congestion and pedestrian safety at the development’s various entrances.

Detailed project documents are available at avl.mx/bak.

Hawthorne at Holbrook (36 Crowell Road, Asheville, 28806)

Greensboro-based Cromwell Farms Holdings LLC — a subsidiary of Hawthorne Residential Partners — seeks to build a 299-unit multi-family complex on 31.8 vacant acres in Asheville near Candler. The current plan has 11 buildings listed, including a clubhouse, two garages, poolhouse, dog run and outdoor pavilion. The apartment and townhome buildings will be three stories each, with a maximum height of 60 feet.

Detailed project documents are available at avl.mx/bem.

Belle Meadow (15, 25, & 37 Rathburn Place, Asheville, 28806)

Developer Quartz Partners, based in Newton, Mass., has applied to build 74 residential units on 9.46 acres on Rathburn Place. Of those units, 34 of will be single-family residences and 40 will be townhouses. A playground is also proposed, and further recreational structures could be added.

Detailed project documents are available at avl.mx/ben.

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About Sara Murphy
Sara Murphy lives in Leicester. Her work has appeared in 100 Days in Appalachia, Facing South, Polygon, and Lifehacker.

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10 thoughts on “Development roundup: Ingles to redevelop Patton Kmart site

  1. John Smith

    While I’m happy something is planned for this site, Ingles should act like a responsible company and put in the required sidewalks. This should be mandatory for any new commercial or residential projects going forward.

    It should be noted that if they do redevelop the Kmart site, it’s store at the corner of Patton and Leicester Hwy will certainly be closed. I guess it shouldn’t be a surprise as that store is notoriously difficult to enter and exit due to the way the traffic corridors are designed.

    • Daniel

      agreed! Ingles likes to just make each store look the same. The city should push ingles into adding housing above, especially for working class people.

  2. Enlightened Enigma

    Such a disappointment that this site does not become major housing as it’s so well located for intown housing! …so probably two Ingles stores will close.

    • kw

      Yeah, I don’t ever want to hear anyone from city council run their mouths ever again about affordable housing if they can’t work to put some right there on Patton where there’s infrastructure, food, and even a variety of jobs…working at Ingles! No cars needed to get to those jobs right there on a bus line! Imagine the savings and low carbon footprint way of life! Ah, well, maybe the mayor has a conflict of interest?

  3. Mixed-User

    Now Ingles can ruin two redevelopment opportunities at once! This site with another single-purpose beige box and the existing Ingles site down the road which they will surely leave vacant and decaying like they nearly always do with old properties. Yay Ingles!

  4. luther blissett

    “A traffic study commissioned by the developer has recommended adding left-turn lanes from Patton Avenue eastbound onto Louisiana Avenue, as well as from Florida Avenue northbound onto Patton Avenue. A right-hand overlap lane is also proposed on Louisiana Avenue onto Patton Avenue westbound.”

    Did it really? Then Ingles can send a big ol’ check to NCDOT to cover the cost.

    The main argument for not rezoning the K-Mart site as an Urban Center was that people from the Emma community felt it would be gentrifying. Not sure what a fancy new Ingles means instead. Not sure whether Ingles might have leaned on those people from Emma. Meanwhile, in spite of the Urban Center zoning, Ingles hates any challenge to its cookie-cutter plans and wants to knock down Innsbruck and put an Ingles there next to the (current) Ingles.

    • MV

      Ingle’s sucks. I’ll never shop there again. They’ve taken advantage of this community for decades and continue to pay low wages and now this…and we all know that the mayor’s law firm represents them.

  5. Shultz!

    Agree w/the above. Socially irresponsible on Ingle’s part – they pretend to be so invested in the community all while being a crazy grocer-come-real-estate-mogul that obviously could give a damn.

    As for Esther ‘The Consultantophile’ Mannheimer, vote her out.

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