12 BONES BBQ in Asheville being taken by condemnation

[leafman60]

This strikes me as stupid, pin-headed City planning. 

"Hey we have this funky, cool arts district that has sprung up over the years among the old cotton warehouses on the river so lets improve it by straightening the roads and planting architectural pear trees everywhere." 

All of a sudden we've destroyed the character through Planning.

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2016/05/16/city-using-eminent-domain-12-bones-site/84457892/

[OldBMWMaster]

A great place to eat.  Asheville has curves in the roads?  In the mountains?  for shame; lets fix that.  Idiots.

[canuguzzi]

Typical. In Davis CA there was a place called Murder Burger , burgers so good they are to die for (something like that). It was there for a long time.

They were forced to change their name so they chose Redrum Burgers.

Somehow, city officials decided that a burger place called Murder Burger actually harmed people. What happens in college towns where enlightenment and higher learning rule.

There is a sign on I80 as you head to SF, the burgers are good.

[not-fishing]

Typical. In Davis CA there was a place called Murder Burger , burgers so good they are to die for (something like that). It was there for a long time.

Been eating there for many Decades, first wife went to school at UC.  I had their Ostrich Burger - not impressed.  They need a Bison Burger.

[twowings]

Sounds like somebody figured out how to make a bunch of money and got the city commission to go along...a damn shame! 

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

Wow,

Shocked to see this come up here, but since I live less than 1/4mi from the location in question... And the fact that I managed both 12 Bones locations for 5 years.... and I attended every public meeting on the subject during that time... I feel pretty qualified to speak on it.

I for one as an Asheville resident think the improvements being made to riverside Drive/Lyman street are MUCH needed and long awaited.  If you know the history of Asheville/French Broad River and how that interplays with riverside drive you would know that the exact changes that are taking place are in line with (and a big part of the realization of) the Wilma Dykeman River Plan which has been in the works for probably close to 20years. (12 Bones has been open about 10 years at this point)

There are several reasons why this road needs to be straightened, widened, bike lanes & on-street parking added. I wont go into details, but this road is a major commuter corridor, connects UNCA to Bitlmore Village/South Avl, and has seen a 10x or more increase in both pass-thru traffic, and destination travel into the RAD (River Arts District). The RAD is hopping with tourist & local traffic, the entire area is loaded with galleries and artists' studios, plus two of the busiest restaurants in town (12 Bones & White Duck) plus one of the busiest brewery (Wedge). Couple this with the explosion in popularity of tubing the French Broad, gallery foot traffic, the lack of sidewalks throughout the RAD, and no better bicycle or walking link between West Avl and downtown.... the traffic & parking situation is dangerous and untenable.

AS to how this impacts 12 Bones:

The primary reason 12 Bones had to be taken via eminent domain: the building directly across Lyman St(not really a building, more like three walls and 65% of a roof) is on the national register of historic places and cannot be destroyed or removed. When you have two buildings in a sharp turn and one is on the register... guess which one goes?

The road cannot be eased to the other side of the historic building because it would interfere with the rail track or at least cross into Norfolk SOuthern right-of-way.

Lastly, the curve cannot be eased the other way because that would impact Curve Studios and guess who is on the board of River Link, French Broad RIver Alliance, the RAD council, and Chamber of Commerce? That's right; the lady who owns Curve Studios.




SO....

12 Bones will be fine. The folks who own 12 Bones DO NOT own the building. The landlord is a total ass who raised their rent 300% when the restaurant sold to new owners 3-4yrs ago due to a technicality in the lease (lease was transferrable, extensions to the lease were not)

The building that 12Bones is in is a total ramshackle POS and I know for a fact the owners of 12 Bones have spent over $100k upgrading that place in the last 3 years just to bring things to code.

In the early plans, there was an alternate to route the road in such a way that the building was spared, but they would lose about 1/2 or the land.  The building owner pitched a fit and caused a huge pain in the ass to the city & state basically saying they weren't going to pay enough to take half of his cratered out parking lot and jungle of poison ivy.  The guy is a slimy weasel trying to extract maximum money out of the government for what was useless property by a dilapidated building.

After threats of lawsuits and actual litigation by the landlord, the state decided if he is going to raise such a stink, they might as well take the whole property and route the road 'the best possible route' instead of a 'compromise route' that preserved the building.

The landlord is going to make out like a bandit because he bought that for a pittance. He is about to catch a huge payday thanks to the NCDOT

12 Bones is moving to a new location very close by and will probably end up with a much nicer facility and perhaps even decent parking.

Asheville will get a dangerous, congested roadway opened up, no more almost running over people carrying tubes over their heads, no more getting stuck at the train crossing, no more dusty potholed parking lots.

It's going to be good all around. 'cept I really wish the asshole landlord wasn't getting such a big payday out of it.


I hope thats coherent 

[leafman60]

Thanks, BBQ, but I still have big reservations about the extent to which this gentrification plan is going.

In some of the historic areas, we are going to gentrify away the character that attracted people there to begin with! Before long, we will have chain motels and McDonalds springing up around those cute sidewalks teaming with white upscale yuppies as shown in the plan slides.

http://riverlink.org//wp-content/uploads/2013/08/karenfinalshow.pdf

Sure, more people will come but the character, often gritty character of authenticity, will be lost.  12 Bones and places like the Wedge will not be the same in Applebee's digs!

There's nothing wrong with a little kink in the roadway to preserve history.

I am a big proponent of planning and I've spent a fortune on such myself.  However, sometimes the engineers and architects get too carried away.  There is merit in the River Plan but they shouldn't screw with some parts of the Arts District.


Lastly, you can't get too worked up about an assh*le making a big windfall profit. That's the name of the game in our world.  The way the system works.

.

[leafman60]

Oh, by the way.  There is Guzzi content in this thread since I and many friends have cruised and parked our Guzzi bikes at these establishments MANY times.

[John Ulrich]

Again I shake my head amazement on the "reach" this forum has.  A subject comes up and by golly someone here managed the subject of the topic.   

[Chuck in Indiana]

Again I shake my head amazement on the "reach" this forum has.  A subject comes up and by golly someone here managed the subject of the topic.   

As I've mentioned before, it's my go to place for enlightenment.  There is a *lot* of experience here...

[Dean Rose]

Again I shake my head amazement on the "reach" this forum has.  A subject comes up and by golly someone here managed the subject of the topic.   

 :1:

Dean

[oldbike54]

 Well , Guzzi riders weren't the "cool" kids in high school , we were the smart kids , meaning we know stuff      Not me mind you , but all you other guys 

 Dusty

[Nic in Western NYS]

I live in Asheville and have learned more about this situation from WG than from living here, reading papers, etc.  Thanks guys.

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

Leafman,

I agree that gentrification can be a negative force that destroys communities is some cases but in the case of the RAD, there wasn't much to preserve. Most of the building there are dilapidated warehouses and/or abandoned. Based on the insane housing crisis in Avl right now, I would love to see some of this stuff converted to apts, condos, or lofts... Thank goodness for TIm, I don't think Wedge Brewing or the wedge building in general will change one iota!  Interesting tidbit, the building across the traffic circle from Wedge (Phil Mechanic Studios) was just sold to an Austin TX based developer for mucho $$$$$$.

Lots of ins-and-outs down there, historic structures, state DOT road running thru city property, increased heavy truck traffic due to the new New Belgium brewery, railroad right-of-way, and ALL IN THE FLOOD PLAIN! A real 'sticky wicket'!

I do feel 100% that 12Bones & the original location would have been spared if the landlord wasn't such a greedy PITA.

[leafman60]

Dilapidated historic buildings can often be salvaged and used as a basis for interesting development. Countless places around the country, the world, have done this. Some very interesting places are found in our preserved historic areas.

Enhancement and improvement is one thing but the fakey, over-drawn planning of architects and engineers can be terrible.  These trends are pervasive and born of good intentions but they are contributing to the homogenization of America.  Our cities and commercial areas are beginning to look the same. We find the same urban renewal themes cropping up, the same structures and layouts.

Regarding the Wedge holding out, wait until the big bucks bid on the place.  The most noble of intentions can melt away in hurry under the enticement of money.

Time moves on.

I've posted enough on this, lol.