New downtown Asheville hotel, Starbucks drive-thru approved by city planning board

ASHEVILLE - If you are looking for a Starbucks to get your Iced Brown Sugar Oatmilk Shaken Espresso — it seems yet another may be coming to the area.

During the Dec. 6 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, a conditional zoning amendment, initially approved for a 511 Brevard Road hotel in 2018, was brought forward by Bear Creek Holdings LLC. The amendment was to add language that would allow a drive-through on the property.

Representative for the applicant, Bo Carpenter, didn't try to beat around the proverbial coffee bush. The amendment was for an even more specific reason.

"I don't think I'm talking too far out of the school to say that this is going to be a Starbucks," Carpenter said. "We are going to have a new Starbucks next to the hotel."

The Starbucks would be one of four tenants in a 6,000-square-foot building just north of the TownePlace Suites by Marriott Asheville West. The lot would include 48 parking spaces and connect to South Bear Creek Road.

A short discussion about why the language had been used to disallow drive-through, along with three conditions that city staff recommended to add to approve the project.

The language disallowing drive-throughs was added "due to concerns with pedestrian walkways," Carpenter said.

Conditions for the amendments approval included improving the existing crosswalk on South Bear Creek Road to a high visibility crosswalk, that a pedestrian connection be provided in the form of a sidewalk between the existing hotel and future building on the Starbucks outparcel and that the developer make a "best effort" to minimize potential conflicts on the drive-through aisle.

The amendment to allow the addition of a drive-through was unanimously approved with conditions. In 2021, the same amendment had been brought to the commission, where it was unanimously denied, according to city planning documents.

As the amendment regards a conditional zoning process, the amendment to allow the Starbucks drive-through will have to be approved by City Council.

Earlier last year, two more Starbucks looked to move into the area, beginning their construction earlier this year. If the drive-through amendment is approved, this will be the third proposed Starbucks to come to Asheville since December 2022.

Tempo by Hilton approved

The city of Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a hotel slated for 22 Carter St. during the commission's Dec. 6 meeting.

The hotel, dubbed "Tempo by Hilton," was proposed by Milan Hotel Group. Milan had recently gained approval for another hotel — the Tribute Hotel — to be located just down the road at 68 Carter St.

Milan has previously developed the Courtyard by Marriott Asheville Biltmore Village on Meadow Road and got approval for an Extended Stay Hotel on Biltmore Avenue. The Extended Stay applied for construction permits in early 2023, according to the city development portal.

The Tempo hotel is set to have 115 rooms over six floors. The parking deck will have a total of 121 spaces. The building will have a gross floor area of 50,244 square feet, with retail and parking below the development. City Planner Clay Mitchell noted that 115 rooms is the maximum a Level II project can contain. Exceeding 115 rooms would require a Level III conditional zoning process.

The Tempo will take the place of the Sycamore Temple, which sold the 0.67-acre property to Milan Hotel Group in July 2022 for $3 million.

Tree canopy preservation compliance is being met by planting three large trees, one medium tree and seven smaller trees. A "fee in lieu," a charge for not replacing tree canopy, would have cost $93,534.

The development is looking at the third option on the public benefits table, which is $6,000 per room toward the Housing Trust Fund, according to applicant contact Tony Hauser.

Tempo also received positive feedback from the city Design Review Committee, which lauded the designers turnaround on the building, which had been sent back for edits three times. One committee member said the proposal was "a much better, much stronger building" after returning to the committee for another round of critique.

Previous discussions of the hotel during the Design Review Committee approval process also considered turning Carter Street and Ann Street into one-way roads, according to a city staff report on the proposal.

"My thought is those streets are very narrow," Commissioner Jenifer Bubenik said in agreement with the idea of converting the roads to one-way streets.

Hauser estimates that the hotel will be built in "18-24" months, pending permit approval.

If both Milan hotels are built, they would add to an area of Carter Street and Haywood Street where two hotels have already been built, with another — the Embassy Suites — scheduled to open Dec. 27. Another hotel was proposed for 215 Haywood St. in September.

If all are built, the two streets would have a total of six hotels, largely concentrated on the Carter Street and Haywood Street intersection.

Missing middle housing presentation

The recently published Missing Middle Housing Study was presented by city urban planner Vaidila Satvika during the commission's meeting.

"We all know we are in a bit of a housing crisis so we are trying to review the policy and barriers that impact housing supply in Asheville," Satvika said of the motivation for the study.

In 2014, around 70% of homes in the Asheville area would be affordable for a family earning the local median income. Now, only "20%-30%" are affordable to those families, according to the study.

Missing middle housing is house-scale buildings with multiple units in walkable neighborhoods, housing types that have been largely missing from the residential housing market over the last 70 years, such as duplexes, cottage courts, triplexes, fourplexes, multiplexes and townhomes.

The $85,000 study was funded in 2022 by Asheville City Council and was led by consultants from the California-based Opticos Design and the Oregon-based Cascadia Partners.

Satvika said that it's "doable" that a package of changes could come to reflect aspects of the Missing Middle Study by spring.

"The study found that the existing regulatory context in Asheville encourages single-family housing significantly more than missing middle housing types," Satvika said. "Simply allowing more single family homes to be built will not move the needle enough to address this housing shortage or increase attainability."

"To me, this is an important part we need to really absorb."

A full missing middle presentation will be given to Asheville City Council on Jan. 9, and the full study can be found at https://www.ashevillenc.gov/projects/missing-middle-housing-study/

More: Downtown Asheville hotel plans for Carter Street get city design committee approval

More: 95-home Haw Creek development proposed during neighborhood meetings amid stern criticism

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: New Starbucks eyeing Brevard Road development; Asheville hotel OK'd