The fate of Asheville’s Flatiron Building

City Council meets on Tues., May 14 to discuss the fate of a local landmark – the Flatiron Building (20 Battery Park Ave.). Late last year, a group of developers + the owner of the building came forward with a proposed boutique hotel for the space, which currently includes street-level retail, offices, and the Sky Bar on the eighth story. On April 8, the City’s Planning + Zoning Commission approved the development.

The building was designed by Albert Wirth and completed in 1926, and is named for its shape, modeled on the iconic Flatiron Building in New York City. And there’s no better time to talk about the proposal, because May is National Historic Preservation Month.

Public feedback on the project has been vocal, with people coming down on both sides of the proposal. The full story is complicated, so our team went to see the Flatiron and look more into the project for ourselves. Here’s what we found out.

The developer

• Philip Woollcott, an Asheville native and partner in the locally-based Flatiron Preservation Group, LLC, is working with local architectural firm Rowhouse Architects on the project. The current building owner, local Russell Thomas, supports the project. He has owned the Flatiron for 33 years and also owns World Coffee. Ownership will be transferred to the Flatiron Preservation Group, LLC. Check out this video to hear more about the project from the developers, the owner, and current building tenants.
• Construction will be done by local company Beverly-Grant, and will employ local workers.

The funding

• Currently, Thomas does not have the funds to make the needed updates to the building (an estimated $10 million). Making the Flatiron into a hotel would allow the developers to pursue national historic tax credits via the National Park Service that are specifically for preservation projects. Tax credits will be earned based on qualifying restoration expenses from the preservation of the Flatiron building.
• In order to receive these tax credits, a property must be income-producing. Residential property (including condos and apartments) does not meet the criteria to receive these credits.

The Flatiron Building today

• The Flatiron has not had any major repairs since it first opened and is in need of significant structural updates, renovations + additions – including ADA-compliant elevators and sprinklers. Cosmetic features of the building are also in need of major repair.
• 10 business condos are currently under private ownership in the building. All condo owners are currently willing to sell and convert the building back to one property.
• Current tenants are on month-to-month leases at the building. Tenants occupying the building if the development is approved are eligible to receive assistance finding other office space downtown, as well as compensation of up to six months of rent (an estimated $300,000 total).

The vision

• The goal is to activate the building for the local community first, and for tourists second, by opening a basement speakeasy, street-level shops, a lobby bar, a rooftop bar + a restaurant that would all be accessible to the public when the hotel opens in 2020.
• The basement speakeasy will have an entrance off Wall St. and will feature industrial design that will include elements of the original building.
• The rooftop bar will replace the Sky Bar and will pay homage to the building’s history as the first site of the WWNC radio station, which broadcast from the building beginning in 1927 and was the city’s first broadcasting station.
• The hotel will have 80 rooms with interior integrity of each room preserved, and will be managed by a third-party company working for the Flatiron Preservation Group, LLC. There will be designated parking spaces for guests. According to a parking demand study conducted for the building, parking demand will be less than the demand now for people working in or visiting businesses in the Flatiron (an estimated 55 spaces, with one space per two hotel rooms, versus an estimated 90 spaces currently).
• The historic elevators – and the elevator operator – will remain, and an ADA-compliant elevator will also be added that will travel from the basement speakeasy in the basement to the rooftop bar on the ninth floor. The current elevators only go from the first through the eighth floor.
• Structural updates include asbestos removal, safety upgrades, installing sprinklers, installing new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and adding the ADA-compliant elevator.
• Cosmetic updates include restoring the building’s 288 windows, repairing copper cornices on the roof and repairing terra cotta flooring throughout the building.
• The developers + owner may also plan events, like weekend farmers markets + craft markets, on Wall St.
• The plan will increase + activate available space in the building that is currently not being used (around 50% of the building’s area).

The controversy

• Ashevillians are worried about another hotel going up downtown. The developers hope first + foremost that the space will be used by locals, and are planning the businesses that will occupy the building accordingly.
• People have expressed interest in the building becoming residences. According to developers, high-end condos would mean public access to the building would be lost, and repairs will be too costly to create affordable housing. Tax credits would also not be available if the Flatiron became private residences.
• There is concern about current businesses in the Flatiron being displaced. The developers hope to counter this by offering compensation worth up to six months of rent to eligible tenants.
• Parking is a major concern, but a parking demand study indicated that the shift could reduce demand for parking.

Want to share your opinion + hear more? City Council will meet to discuss the proposal again on May 14 at 5 p.m. in the Council Chamber (on the second floor of City Hall). Still have questions about the project? Leave them in the comments + we’ll pass them on. ⬇️