Asheville finalizes land transfer near McCormick Field to 'My Daddy Taught me That'

ASHEVILLE - It's been months since Asheville City Council approved the transfer of a warehouse and half-acre slice of property to Black-led nonprofit My Daddy Taught Me That, but a mid-August exchange made it a reality.

"We have keys," said Director of Operations Jacque Hall on Aug. 14. The property conveyance was finalized a few days before on Aug. 11, for the low price of $1. Hall said they were "ecstatic" to have a place to call their own.

The pie-shaped wedge of land at 3 Hunt Hill Place, and the 6,815-square-foot office and warehouse that occupy it have been owned by the city since 1948. At the edge of downtown, the land sits above McCormick Field, within the bounds of the historically Black East End/Valley Street neighborhood.

On April 25, council members unanimously approved the conveyance of the Hunt Hill property to local nonprofit KL Training Solutions, run by Keynon Lake, which encompasses youth programs My Daddy Taught Me That, plus its "junior" program, My Sistah Taught Me That, and more.

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“KL Training Solutions demonstrated broad support from local nonprofit leaders and leaders in the East End/Valley Street community,” said City Manager Debra Campbell in an Aug. 11 city news release. "We are excited to offer this level of support for the important work they are doing in the community.”

'Dream design'

With keys in hand, Hall said, now the real work begins. The vacant building was previously occupied by the Parks and Recreation maintenance division since 2017. Before then, it was used by the city for the purchasing division office and warehouse.

"It still needs a lot of work," Hall said. The nonprofit is gearing up for a capital campaign to raise funds for restoration and renovation of the property. She said they are not ready to put a price tag on the work yet, but are in talks with an architect as they explore their "dream design" for the building.

Along with community fundraising, Hall said they hope to explore grant opportunities with the city and county, and are are working with Dogwood Health Trust's Leverage Fund, which pairs the organization with a grant writer to pursue state and national funders.

In April conversations with the Citizen Times, Lake envisioned space for onsite job training opportunities such as carpentry and electrical, a break room, a commercial kitchen, plus areas in the parking lot to hold community events, like a "Food Truck Friday."

The programming hosted there is intended to "address the race-based opportunity gap, prevent youth violence through mentoring, provide job training opportunities, and expose youth to life-changing events," read the nonprofit's original proposal to the city for use of the property.

According to a recent Buncombe County report, Black Buncombe County and Asheville City school students are significantly less likely to hit performance metrics and are more likely to be disciplined at school than their white peers.

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The property deed restricts usage to community development programs and nonprofits.

It's the organization's "all encompassing" work with children and families, work that goes "beyond the surface level," that drew Hall to work for the nonprofit, she said, where she not only oversees "all things logistics," but handles finances, grant management and more, plus tutoring and teaching.

Basic infrastructure investments are needed for the building, like a new roof and cooling, but like Lake, Hall also reeled off a list of other dreams: community space, somewhere for young people to come seven days a week; recreation areas; classrooms and computers for tutoring and studying; job training programs.

Next steps

The renovation's timeline is contingent on fundraising, Hall said.

“We are wanting to go full steam ahead as quickly as possible,” she said, laughing. “If we got money tomorrow, we would start construction tomorrow. We want to get this building up and running as soon as possible for our students.”

While fundraising begins, Hall said they will continue programming out of the Asheville Mall, though she anticipated the nonprofit's offices would first move into the new space, which has offices attached, "so that we can be closer to home."

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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email shonosky@citizentimes.com or message on Twitter at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville finalizes downtown land transfer for youth programs