Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
From Mark Barrett of the Asheville Citizen-Times:
Charlotte company is eyeing the former Deal MotorCars property on Merrimon Avenue as a possible location for a Harris-Teeter supermarket.
Shannon Tuch, assistant city planning director, confirmed that the Planning Department has been approached by The Carolina Group Partners LLC about the possibility of putting a store on part of the property.
“There is no formal proposal right now, and we’ve only had sort of conceptual conversations with the developers,” Tuch said Thursday.
Harris-Teeter is a somewhat upscale grocery chain based in Charlotte. It currently has one Buncombe County store, on Hendersonville Road in South Asheville.
The area along Merrimon and the Deal property in particular, which is located northwest of the intersection of Merrimon Avenue and Chestnut Street, saw several heated debates over land use and zoning issues last decade.
Owners of 8.5 acres that include the Deal property proposed a large development for the property in 2007. It would have included 313 housing units, a 150-room hotel and retail and office space.
The proposal, which would have included two 10-story buildings, has never advanced to a City Council vote due to neighborhood opposition and the economic slump. The property for a time was home to a discount furniture store.
The design of the nearby Staples office store and trucks unloading at Greenlife grocery just south on Merrimon have drawn considerable criticism. A proposed plan that would have guided development along the North Asheville corridor was never adopted because of differences among neighbors and property owners.
Tuch has taken steps to get thoughts from nearby residents on whether it would be better for the store to be located close to Merrimon Avenue with parking to the west or for parking to be along Merrimon with the store set further back.
CofNrthAvl ,
One. Ingles DOES have organic produce, and TWO: Some lights have left turn arrows on their traffic lights.
I think this would be a wonderful addition to the north part of town. Harris Teeter seems to fall in between Ingles and Fresh Market/Greenlife price-wise. HT has a better selection of organic produce than Ingles (do they even have any organic produce?), certainly better meats, as well as a nicer prepared food section compared to Ingles. It might be slightly more expensive but they always have weekly HT specials and you can get a HT card for additional savings. I would shop there (I used to when I lived in Charlotte and then in south Avl).
As far as how it would affect traffic on Merrimon, I have a question: Why don’t any of the lights on Merrimon have left-turn green arrows? It seems like a simple solution to what can be during busy times, a very frustrating situation. Anyone who drives down Merrimon knows that getting stuck behind a car trying to turn left to no avail can take up a huge amount of time. Ash-any chance you can find out about why no left turn green arrows on Merrimon? Has it ever been discussed?
There’s only one thing I miss about living in Greensboro as compared to here, and that’s Harris Teeter. Good news, good news.
There are some concerns coming up from the historical preservationist aspect of the community that the few relics left of G.W.Pack’s mansion will be lost in this deal. Currently all that is left of his mansion, which was raised in the 70’s I believe, is the exterior stone wall and a magnolia tree.