Ferry Road development update: $210 million, 645-unit, majority affordable community
ASHEVILLE – The 645-unit, 54% affordable, sprawling Ferry Road development on Buncombe County owned land is continuing to move forward, according to a presentation delivered Oct. 4 to the county commissioners.
The county acquired the area where the development will be in 2015. The area is sandwiched between I-26, Ferry Road and the French Broad River near the Pratt & Whitney plant. County officials saw this development as a way help address Buncombe's need for affordable housing.
Buncombe County is working with the UNC School of Government Department of Finance Initiative, which works with communities around the state to attract private investment, to create a “feasible” development plan, bringing in a private developer to finance, build and operate the planned community.
The update on the Ferry Road development, given during the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners meeting, disclosed highlights of the county’s aspirations for the community, which included nearly 2 miles of greenways, a community green and five “pocket parks,” and 72 acres of conserved land, which covers roughly 60% of the property.
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The development would include 115 single family homes ― 50 of the homes would be restricted to families earning up to 60% of the area median income. According to the presentation, the AMI for an individual is $56,300 per year. The development would also have 55 rental units for incomes below 30% AMI, 160 units for incomes below 60% AMI and 55 units for incomes below 80% AMI. The remaining 260 units would be market rate.
“There is a huge need for places that regular people can afford to live,” Brownie Newman, chair of the commission, said during the meeting, complimenting the plan.
Sarah Odio, assistant director of housing and revitalization at the UNC School of Government Department of Finance Initiative, estimated that the project would require $210 million public-private investment, $34 million of which would come from Buncombe County. The investment would come in part from selling properties, infrastructure and subsidizing the restricted affordable units.
“That is something that we look at as an important indicator,” Odio said about the contribution the county would make compared to the amount of affordable housing included. “Is the private sector bringing more to the table than you all are to achieve these critical public interests?”
The county and the UNC School of Government are working to select partners right now ― the project is planned to begin building units in December 2026.
Buncombe County is holding the following public engagement sessions to discuss the project:
Oct. 25 at 5 p.m. at Enka-Candler Library.
Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. online. Register at Publicinput.com/FerryRoad
Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m. at 200 College St. in Asheville.
Here are the other important updates from the county commissioner meeting.
Broadening broadband access
Allison Ellis, a spokesperson from Frontier Communications, the company Buncombe County contracted to install high-speed internet for nearly 1,000 addresses in the northern area of the county, updated the commissioners on its 24-month implantation plan. Frontier received $3.3 million from a state grant, contributed close to $300,000 of its own money, which Buncombe County matched. The project will cost around $3.9 million.
Ellis said that Frontier is currently in the second phase of its five-step plan, which she referred to as detailed design. The following phases are construction, network activation and plan closeout.
“We have crews come out doing their surveys and do a detailed plan of the engineering,” Ellis said during the briefing of the commissioners. “And then we also create the materials and start to get the materials on order.”
Ellis noted that the phases of the plan are fluid. While it will take Frontier 24 months to complete the project, some customers will have high-speed internet before the project ends, Ellis said.
Funding for the Woodfin Greenway and Blueway
County staff updated commissioners on a major public works project in Woodfin. The Woodfin Greenway and Blueway, a multi-step initiative to build and expand parks along the French Broad River, build greenways and construct the manmade wave in the river for kayaking and surfing, will cost a total of about $31.4 million. Buncombe County, the North Carolina Department of Transportation, Woodfin and the Tourism Development Authority each contributed funding.
Silver-Line Park was completed May 2022. The next parts of the project — the Whitewater Wave and Riverside Park ― are each 60% design complete. Construction on Riverside Park will begin in 2024. The Whitewater Wave is at the permitting stage; construction is also slated to begin in 2024. Components of the greenway construction along the French Broad River and Beaverdam Creek are at various points of design or preliminary engineering.
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The Board of Commissioners will vote Oct. 17 to allocate $13 million in funds that will be reimbursed by the federal government. They will also vote to accept and allocate $5.9 million in grant awards from the Tourism Product Development Fund for the project. Another vote will establish a general obligation bond so they can provide about $1.3 million to meet the 20% required for the county to receive a match from the federal government.
Mitchell Black covers Buncombe County and health care for the Citizen Times. Email him at mblack@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @MitchABlack. Please help support local journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Ferry Road development: $210 million, 645-unit, majority affordable
