ANNUAL FALL PLANT AND RUMMAGE SALE: 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 12, rain or shine, Botanical Gardens at Asheville, 151 W.T. Weaver Boulevard. Native plants, shrubs and trees from the gardens and from over a dozen regional nurseries and local garden clubs. Free admission and parking.

WEST ASHEVILLE GARDEN STROLL: 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 12, rain or shine, opening ceremony at 10:30 a.m. at the West Asheville Library, 942 Haywood Road. Visit 18 gardens, all walkable, on the theme “Cycles”; guides available at the library all day. Free and open to the public. Details soon at www.westashevillegardens.com.

CAROLINAS DAHLIA SOCIETY ANNUAL SHOW: 1-5 p.m. Sept. 12 and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 13, NC Arboretum, 100 Frederick Olmsted Law Way, Asheville. More than 800 blooms to be shown, plus classes, flowers for sale. Free admission with paid Arboretum parking. Visit www.carolinasdahliasociety.org.

GROVE PARK/SUNSET MOUNTAIN TOUR OF HOMES: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 13. Tickets on sale Aug. 14. A fundraiser to help the neighborhood association renovate and maintain E.W. Grove Park, the Griffing Boulevard Rose Gardens and Sunset Parkway. To learn more, visit http://gpsmna.org.

BAMBOO WALKING TOURS: 1:30-3 p.m. on the second and fourth Sundays through November at Haiku Bamboo Nursery/Farm, 468 Rhodes Mountain Road, Hendersonville. The next walk is Sept. 13. Learn about bamboo plants, characteristics and environment. Wear walking shoes, no sandals. Cameras permitted. Adults $25, seniors $23, ages 13-18, $15, free for younger. To arrange a tour or to learn more, call 828-685-3053. Visit www.haikubamboonursery.net.

CIDERFEST: 1-5 p.m. Nov. 7, WNC Farmers Market, 570 Brevard Road, Asheville. Tickets $30, on sale at www.ciderfestnc.com. Designated driver, $15; children free. Proceeds benefit WNC Green Building Council. Hard cider, food pairings, arts & crafts, live music, children’s activities.

WORKSHOPS & MEETINGS

MEN’S GARDEN CLUB OF ASHEVILLE: Noon, Sept. 1, First Baptist Church of Asheville dining room, 5 Oak St. Alison Arnold, agent with the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service, will present, “Do You Know Your Invasive Plants?” Arnold also spent 16 years with the NC Arboretum, where she was director of horticulture. Her presentation (at about 12:45 p.m.) is free, but lunch is $11. RSVP to Dick Powell at [email protected].

ASHEVILLE GARDEN CLUB: 9:30 a.m. Sept. 2, N. Asheville Community Center, 37 E. Larchmont Road. June Jolley of the NC Arboretum will present “An Introduction to Protocols for Long-Term Seed Saving.” Program starts at 10 a.m. To learn more, call Pat Naffin at 828-550-3459.

HYPERTUFA LEAF CASTING: 10 a.m.-noon Aug. 27, Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville. Create a natural looking hypertufa casting of a large leaf. $50, including all materials. To register, contact [email protected] or 828-698-6104.

MUSHROOM GROWING WORKSHOP: 2:30-4 p.m. Sept. 2, Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville. Make your own mushroom log and learn about cultivating mushrooms at home. $60, including all materials. To register, contact [email protected] or 828-698-6104.

FALL PLANT SALE: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sept. 11 and 12. Bullington Gardens, 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville. Seasonal perennials, mums, pansies, trees and shrubs and the “garden shed” with used tools, books and other garden-related items.

DAHLIA DAZE AT BULLINGTON GARDENS: Sept. 22-25 at 95 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville. Tours of the dahlia garden at 1 and 2 p.m. Sept. 22, 23 and 25. Demonstration of Ikebana using dahlias, 3 p.m. Sept. 24. Free, but registration is necessary to [email protected] or 828-698-6104.

WNC FARMERS MARKET

OPEN DAILY: Retail shops open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. every day, Brevard Road at Interstate 40. Fresh produce — including peaches, pears, cabbage, corn, peppers, eggplant, fall squash, sweet and white potatoes, muscadine grapes and more — as well as jams, jellies, local honey, cheese, wine and crafts. Learn more at wncfarmersmarket.org. Upcoming events include:

•Ciderfest, 1-5 p.m. Nov. 7. Tickets $30, on sale at www.ciderfestnc.com. Designated driver, $15; children free. Benefit for WNC Green Building Council. Hard cider, food pairings, arts & crafts, live music, children’s activities.

ASHEVILLE-AREA TAILGATE MARKETS

For even more markets, visit www.buyappalachian.org/search/tailgate_markets.

•Asheville City Market: 8 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, 161 S. Charlotte St. 10 a.m.-noon. www.asapconnections.org.

•Asheville City Market South: noon-4 p.m. Wednesdays, 2 Town Square Blvd., Biltmore Park Town Square. www.asapconnections.org.

•Black Mountain Tailgate Market: 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays, behind the First Baptist Church in Black Mountain at 130 Montreat Road.

•East Asheville Tailgate Market: 3-6 p.m. Fridays, 954 Tunnel Road, Groce UMC upper parking lot.

•French Broad Food Co-op Market: 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays, 76 Biltmore Ave., in the parking lot next to the French Broad Food Co-op.

•Leicester Farmers Market: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Leicester Landing Shopping Center, 338 Leicester Road, behind Zaxby’s. www.leices­terfarmersmarket.com.

•North Asheville Tailgate Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays. UNC Asheville Campus Commuter Lot C. Take Weaver Boulevard to campus entrance at traffic circle; first parking lot on right.

•Oakley Farmers Market: 3:30-6:30 p.m. Thursdays, 607 Fairview Road, behind Oakley UMC.

•River Arts District Farmers Market: 2-6 p.m. Wednesdays, 175 Clingman Ave., in the field next to All Souls Pizza.

•Weaverville Tailgate Market: 2:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays. On the hill overlooking Lake Louise behind the Community Center on Weaverville Highway.

•West Asheville Tailgate Market: 2:30-6 p.m. Tuesdays, 718 Haywood Road.

OTHER WNC TAILGATE MARKETS

•Bakersville Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, 101 Hemlock Drive, Bakersville.

•Flat Rock Tailgate Market: 3-6 p.m. Thursdays, 2720 Greenville Highway, Flat Rock.

•Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Wednesdays & Saturdays at the Haywood Arts Regional Theatre parking lot, 250 Pigeon St., Waynesville.

•Henderson County Tailgate Market: 7 a.m.-noon, 100 N. King St., Hendersonville.

•Jackson County Farmers Market: 9 a.m.-noon. Saturdays, municipal parking lot next to Bridge Park, along Railroad Avenue, Sylva.

•Madison County Farmers & Artisans Market: 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, corner of Park and Physical Plant drives, Mars Hill.

•Historic Marion Tailgate Market: 3-6 p.m. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-noon Saturdays, West Henderson and Logan streets, Marion.

•Mills River Farmers Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, 5046 Boylston Highway, Mills River.

•Spruce Pine Farmers Market: 2-5 p.m. Wednesdays, 297 Oak Ave., Spruce Pine.

•Transylvania Tailgate Market: 8 a.m.-noon Saturdays, 190 E. Main St., Brevard. VisitTransylvaniaFarmersMarket.com.

•Original Waynesville Tailgate Market: 8 a.m.-noon Wednesdays and Saturdays, 171 Legion Drive, Waynesville.

•Yancey County Farmers Market: 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturdays, South Main Street, Burnsville.

ONGOING

GRANT APPLICATIONS: Deadline Oct. 1 for Haywood County Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Association educational or research grants for 2016. Projects must be in Haywood County, and related to gardening, horticulture or the environment (not for beautification). Call 828-456-3575.

MASTER GARDENER CLASSES: Haywood County Extension is accepting applications for 2016 training sessions, one morning a week, January-April. Participants agree to volunteer at least 40 hours during the following year. Attend free info seminars at 2 p.m. Oct. 8, Waynesville Library, or 5 p.m. Oct. 14, Canton Library. To learn more, call 828-456-3575.

LEICESTER GARDEN CLUB: Meets at 1 p.m. fourth Tuesday of the month at the Leicester Library. To learn more, contact Crystal Dover at 828-259-9649.

WEAVERVILLE GARDEN CLUB: Meets at 9:30 a.m. second Tuesday of every month September through June in the Community Room at the Weaverville Town Hall on Main Street. To learn more, call 828-658-1154.

GROW YOUR OWN FOOD: Hunter Community Garden on Johnson Farm Road in Haywood County has 12-by-50-foot lots and provides irrigation and many tools. $35. To learn more or sign up, contact Sarah Scott at the Haywood Extension Center, 828-456-3575.

COMPOSTING DEMONSTRATION: Learn how to compost, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of the month, April-October, near Jesse Israel’s Garden Center, WNC Farmers Market, 570 Brevard Road. Free. Tips, instructions, Q&A, samples, demos and composters on display. Ask a Gardener information table also available for more general questions. To learn more, visitwww.buncombemastergardener.org or call 828-255-5522.

MASTER GARDENERS’ FREE ASSISTANCE: Helpline open 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Fridays. Call 828-255-5522 or visit the Buncombe County Extension Office, 94 Coxe Ave., Asheville. Free soil sample test kits also available. For help anytime, visit www.buncombemastergardener.org, purchase “A Gardening Guide for Our Mountains,” available online or at the Extension office and subscribe to the free monthly newsletter for home lawn and garden enthusiasts — call 828-255-5522 or send an email with “Subscribe to Mountain Gardener” in subject line to [email protected].

RAIN BARRELS: Buncombe County Cooperative Extension has 80-gallon rain barrels available for $110 plus tax at 94 Coxe Ave., Asheville. Call 828-255-5522 for availability.

via http://www.citizen-times.com/story/life/2015/09/04/asheville-area-home-garden-events-early-sept/71693624/

via Caitlin Byrd, [email protected]:40 p.m. EDT August 12, 2015 http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/08/12/ashevilles-city-centre-complex-gets-topping/31535529/

When it comes to commercial real estate and building in the Asheville area, we might be on the cusp of a historic time.

Hotels, retail spots, offices, medical buildings, apartments, schools — they’re all going up at one time, and more are in the pipeline. Total development investment coming to the area in the next half-decade is staggering, topping an estimated $1 billion.

And interest is coming in all seven of the Asheville area’s commercial corridors — Tunnel Road, Merrimon Avenue/U.S. 25, Patton Avenue/Smoky Park Highway, Hendersonville Road, Long Shoals Road, Airport Road and Brevard Road, said John Spake, founder of Spake Real Estate.

The Reynolds Mountain development in Woodfin, which is to include retail, office and residential, serves as an example, Spake said. It has been under development for more than a decade, and like most developments, it took a hit after the Great Recession of 2008-09, “going dormant,” as Spake describes it.

“If I’d come to you a year ago and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to put $60 million of development in Reynolds Mountain,’ you would’ve said, ‘Spake, you’ve lost your mind,'” he said. “But you’re going to wake up a year from now, and it’s going to be complete. It’s pretty exciting for the north side of the county.”

His company represents the seller, Wells Fargo bank. Spake said they sold a hotel pad two months ago for a new Holiday Inn Express hotel, a 7-acre tract to a business group that will build a $37 million assisted living facility, and they’re under contract for another tract of land that will accommodate two medical buildings.

“I think Asheville has been known for its slow, steady growth, and yes, we had a retraction during the recession, but it has caught up a lot quicker than we’ve ever seen in the past,” Spake said.

Fellow developer Rusty Pulliam, head of Pulliam Properties, suggests the market’s heat is reaching historic proportions. It brings to mind the building frenzy of the early 20th century and the Roaring ’20s.

“With the economic growth going on right now, it’s like I’ve never seen it in my 30-year career,” said Pulliam, who partnered with Spake on the development of the $24 million City Centre office building project and the sale of a hotel site next to it. “I think Asheville has been primed for this growth for years, and it’s just now occurring. If the national economy stays healthy, Asheville is going to have a robust next 10 years.”

Beyond recovery

Pulliam’s company has a 7-acre tract under contract for retail development along Long Shoals Road, and one of his brokers, Paul Ellis, recently closed a $12.8 million deal on the South College building on Sweeten Creek Road, which two limited liability corporations bought as an investment. The deal, which will have no effect on the college’s operations, highlights how hot the commercial market is right now.

On the western edge of downtown, Pulliam’s company just closed on a deal to sell the former Buncosmbe County Sheriff’s Office on Haywood Street to a hotel developer, a $4 million transaction. With five hotels underway or scheduled to be built downtown, Pulliam says he expects to see five more announced in the coming year or two.

Ellis, who did the South College deal, said this year he’s already handled $18 million in transactions.

“I think as a whole, obviously the residential market always comes back first, but number two is the commercial market — it follows right behind it,” Ellis said. “With commercial as a whole, we’re seeing a lot more franchise people who are coming here with new businesses and restaurants, and we’re seeing a huge boom with the brewing market.”

County and city permitting offices have seen the deluge firsthand.

For the fiscal year that ended June 30, Asheville issued building and upfit permits with an estimated construction value of $400 million, said Shannon Tuch, Asheville’s development services director. In 2012, it was $188 million.

New Belgium’s $175 million brewery on the west side of the French Broad River leads the pack of major investments. The facility should start brewing beer later this year.

But hotels have also drawn a lot of attention — and dollars.

A $12 million Hyatt Place Hotel is going up where the Three Brothers Restaurant used to be on Haywood Street downtown, and work is underway on the $20 million AC Hotel near the BB&T Building. The $16 million Hilton Garden Inn, next to Pulliam and Spake’s City Centre, just east of the Buncombe County Courthouse, should expand downtown’s reach.

“About two months ago, it was just crazy,” said Bob Haynes, who handles commercial plan review for Buncombe County.

Commercial activity wasn’t hit immediately by the recession and didn’t bottom out until 2011, when the county handled 42 commercial building or upfit permits with a value of $22.5 million. That year, they had no permit applications for apartments.

The value of commercial permits rose to $44 million the next year, dipped to $31 million in 2013 and then exploded in 2014 — 98 permits totaling nearly $135 million in work. So far this year, through May, the county is on pace to top that, with 43 permits for almost $79 million in work.

Richard Whitney, president of Whitney Commercial Real Estate, said their total volume of sales and leases, year-to-date, is up 47 percent from 2014. For the past 12 months, compared to the previous 12 months, it’s up 77 percent.

“I feel like the recession ended in 2009, but we didn’t begin to come out of it until the fourth quarter of 2010,” Whitney said.

Commercial development aside, home sellers are pretty happy with life right now.

“We just had the strongest June in residential sales we’ve had since 2006,” said Don Davies, whose firm, RealSearch, tracks residential real estate trends.

In June 2006, Buncombe County saw single-family home sales of 455 houses, with an average sales price of $283,600. This June, Buncombe saw 417 sales with an average sales price of $287,584.

“So we’re kind of back to balance,” Davies said.

With interest rates remaining low, under 4 percent, and movers and shakers looking for opportunities again, Whitney said the investment market is the strongest segment he sees now.

“The highest demand but the hardest to find is investment property,” Whitney said.

‘All the wheels are turning’

Governments, school systems and hospitals are in on the act, too.

Pulliam said all of the development feeds on itself, generating more development. More jobs bring more apartments, which bring shoppers and restaurant diners, and hotels bring tourists to buy pints at microbrews or paintings at artists studios.

South Asheville and southern Buncombe County — home to Hendersonville, Airport and Long Shoals roads — remain the hottest markets geographically. Spake noted that several properties they handle the leasing for are near or at full capacity, including the Walmart center on Hendersonville Road, which is 100 percent occupied, and the Ingles Shopping Center less than a mile away, 94 percent occupied.

The nearby Gerber Village shopping center, home to restaurants and retail and, like Reynolds Mountain, slow to catch on, is going to be 90 percent leased by summer’s end, Spake said.

Fitzhugh Stout, senior managing director of the Charlotte office of Integra Realty, which assesses commercial real estate and closely follows the industry, said Asheville is not alone in the boom. His company has offices across the Carolinas, and he says, “We’re seeing a definite uptick.”

“Everything is improving,” Stout said. “Of course, the hottest market across the country is apartments.”

Pulliam said some 3,000 new units will come online in the region over the next five years.

The city of Asheville had a market study done that found an apartment vacancy rate of 1 percent, indicating a huge demand for apartments. Stout said his company has worked on projects in the Asheville area including a 310-unit development near Biltmore Village and another 168-unit development near Brevard Road.

He likened Asheville to another popular tourist destination, Charleston, South Carolina.

“Charleston is experiencing the same thing — the growth has been explosive in apartments and hotels, and office is starting to come into play, too,” Stout said. “I would imagine that’s going to happen in Asheville as well.”

As he puts it, “It is the Carolinas’ time.”

PERMIT GROWTH

Buncombe County commercial building and upfit (renovations) permits
Year, total, value

• 2009, 85, $36.5M
• 2010, 69, $41M
• 2011, 42, $22.5M
• 2012 41, $44M
• 2013, 57, $31M
• 2014, 98, $135M
• 2015 (through May), 43, $78.7M

Multifamily dwelling permits (apartments)
Year, buildings, units, cost

• 2009, 17, 284, $13.6M
• 2010, 22, 519, $21.2M
• 2011, 0, 0, 0
• 2012, 1, 4, $250,000
• 2013, 5, 80, $2.6M
• 2014, 18, 351, $18.3M
• 2015 (through May), 7, 86, $252,000

Source: Buncombe County Permits & Inspections

Major projects underway or starting soon

• New Belgium Brewery: $175 million investment in the River Arts District, East Coast operations center. The facility should start brewing beer later this year.

• Hyatt Place Hotel: The $12, seven-story million hotel is well under way on Haywood Street where Three Brothers Restaurant, with exterior work nearing completion. Scheduled to open this year, with 140 rooms.

Projects underway

• AC Hotel: Excavation and foundation work is underway on the $20 million hotel near the BB&T Building downtown. The 132-room Marriott-branded hotel at 10 Broadway, planned for nine stories, is scheduled to open during summer 2016.

• Hilton Garden Inn/City Centre office building: The $16 million, six-story hotel and the four-story, $24 million office building on the east side of downtown are well under construction. The project should open in 2016.

• Mission Health tower: The region’s largest hospital plans to build an 11-story, $404 million tower on its Mission campus. Site preparation starts in August; projected completion date is November 2018. The 635,000-square-foot building will house new operating rooms, an emergency services department and other spaces.

• Asheville City Schools: New $23 million Isaac Dickson Elementary School, and new $41 million Asheville Middle School. Both should open for 2016-17 school year.

• Enka Intermediate School: Buncombe County’s newest school is scheduled for completion July 25. Cost is $25 million

Article Via http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/07/11/billion-development-coming-asheville-area/30011131/

Buncombe County Register of Deeds documents show the sale price and that the transaction occurred on June 29.

Hospitality Lodging Investors, LP, based in York, Pennsylvania, had owned the Hotel Indigo.

Reached by phone on Thursday, Dennis Goodwin, Hospitality Lodging Investors president, declined comment.

Daniel Hansen, Summit president and CEO, said in a prepared statement on Wednesday, “Our team is extremely pleased with the acquisition of the Hotel Indigo centrally located in the vibrant Asheville market.”

He noted that the diversity of Asheville’s economy and the “highly-desirable” nature of the Asheville market makes the 115-room Indigo “a perfect addition to our portfolio.”

Summit also entered into a management agreement with Virginia-based Interstate Hotels & Resorts, Summit announced on Wednesday.

Summit plans to spend about $400,000 in capital improvements to the Indigo during the next year.

The publicly traded real estate investment trust focuses on acquiring and owning upscale lodging-industry properties.

As of Wednesday, Summit owned 93 hotels comprising 11,933 guestrooms in 23 states.

Article via http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/07/09/downtown-ashevilles-hotel-indigo-sells/29917629/