Woodfin – Atlanta-based development company St. Bourke is managing two major residential projects along I-26, just north of Woodfin. These developments combined will add more than 400 new homes and townhomes.
“Both of these projects were started in the mid-2000’s but eventually went into foreclosure and have remained partially-built and largely dormant for a decade,” wrote Ben Simpson, president of St. Bourke, in an email. “The projects’ current owner, Drapac Capital Partners, has brought us in to bring these future communities back to life.”
He continued: “We’ve recently ramped up work on one of the projects, Springs of North Asheville.” He referenced the October Town of Woodfin Board of Commissioners meeting when the board “unanimously approved our updated master plan (attached) and granted a rezoning of the project from R-7 to Mountain Village zoning.”
The R-7 and R-10 zoning ordinances are currently under review by the town. A moratorium was placed on new requests from any developer wishing to start new construction in those areas with the designation of R-10 and R-7. Since the Walnut Spring development predated the moratorium, it was therefore included in the zoning classification. So the town continued to honor their past approval—much to the consternation of the nineteen current residents of Walnut Springs.
Simpson presented the following highlights from the plan:
•The development comprises thirty-one total acres, located less than half a mile from I-26 off Old Marshall Highway (99999 Walnut Springs Dr).
• It will add 198 new townhomes to the market.
• In an effort to combat increasing affordability concerns in the Asheville suburbs, these homes will start in the low $300s to provide homeownership opportunities for young families, young professionals, and retirees. For context, most new homes in that area start in the $500s.
• The original plan has been redesigned to reduce the total number of homes and highlight the community’s natural features and expansive views.
• The development exclusively used local consultants Brooks Engineering of Asheville and Site Design Studio LA of Weaverville.
“We believe that Springs of North Asheville is going to be something truly special for the area, and we are excited to deliver a beautiful community with high-quality homes that provide the Asheville market with some much-needed housing options that more residents can actually afford,” said Simpson.
We are managing the development of another project in Asheville in addition to Springs. It’s located about one mile due south of our Springs project off of Altura Parkway. This project isn’t quite as far along as Springs so we don’t have quite as much information to release about it, but we will be ramping up work on it in 2021,” said St. Brouke Communications Manager Katie Fider. She added, “As Ben mentioned initially, both of these projects have big potential for the area, and we’re looking forward to kicking off physical development next year.”