The largest project in downtown Asheville, Project Aspire, is now 'on pause,' partners say

ASHEVILLE - Project Aspire, the massive, mixed-use development that has been the product of years of collaboration between the YMCA of Western North Carolina and First Baptist Church of Asheville, is now "on pause," development partners said May 23.

The pause comes after development partners said the required funding element for the project had "proven elusive." The YMCA and FBCA hired The Furman Company, a Greenville-based development company, to help bring the project — the largest ever approved in downtown Asheville — to life.

"A project of this scope requires extraordinary due diligence, careful planning, and public-private partnerships, all of which take time. After many months of work on a PPP agreement, a strategy to fund parking has proven elusive," the joint statement from FBCA and YMCA read.

The project was approved during a September conditional zoning hearing with a plan that would bring a new YMCA building, office space, affordable housing and the tallest hotel in WNC to a 10-acre parcel sitting on prime downtown real estate owned by two century-old Asheville-based nonprofits.

The plan indicated that Project Aspire could bring anywhere from 400 to 650 new apartments to the area, with 20% being affordable at 80% area median income, which would be $52,350 for one person in the Asheville metropolitan statistical area, according to 2024 estimates from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Half of the affordable units would accept Housing Choice vouchers.

More: Project Aspire, the largest project in downtown Asheville, aims to find its footing

"After mutual review, our organizations are pausing to re-evaluate our options to ensure that we maximize our opportunities for the greatest impact on our members and the community at large," the joint statement said.

The YMCA declined an interview request about the pause May 23.

Project leaders had previously told the Citizen Times that funding for the parking garage — an element that project leaders suggested would need a public-private partnership to get off the ground — had been chief among the upcoming goals for the mixed-use development.

During a February interview with the Citizen Times, Furman Vice President Robert Poppleton estimated the funding for the first phase of the project, which included the parking garage, would require a "$20 to $200 million investment plan."

During the project's approval process, members of the historically Black East End/Valley Street Community expressed concerns about Aspire, drawing comparisons to urban renewal projects that uprooted and displaced members of the neighborhood decades ago. The project sits at the edge of the neighborhood.

Despite the pause, project leaders say that they are committed to the long-term goals of "health and wellness services, childcare, affordable housing, and other essential amenities," and "future plans will adapt and evolve" as they continue to explore funding strategies.

"In the meantime, both of our organizations are moving forward. First Baptist is committed to maintaining and preserving its national historic landmark and related facilities, and the Y is committed to the idea of building a state-of-the-art wellness facility to serve all," the statement read.

More: Asheville's Salvage Station to lose property to eminent domain; commits to rebuilding

More: NC Attorney General brings $12M suit against Illinois owner of closed Canton paper plant

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. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: The largest project in downtown Asheville now 'on pause,' partners say