The days of rapid-fire commercial construction in the area have passed, but it’s not as if developers have just shut down operations completely.
Some building continues in Asheville and Buncombe, although not the type of massive commercial projects that marked the late 1990s and early part of this decade. Speculative building — where developers erect a structure in the hope of leasing it upon completion — has slowed the most.
“The banks won’t loan any money today unless you’ve got a track record and you’ve been in it for a lot of years,” said Bill Burgin, whose company, Bill Burgin Real Estate, is building 6,800 square feet of retail space next to the Chili’s restaurant on Airport Road in southern Buncombe County. “And you’ve got to have some tenants to go in the building.”
A wine store has signed a lease on part of the building, and a mattress and bedding retailer is close to committing. The project has been in the works for about two years, but building just began about two months ago.
‘Renovations, additions’
Like a lot of developers, Burgin got a building permit extension. The City of Asheville offered an extension to developers because permits were languishing without projects being completed. The state followed with a similar extension.
Shannon Tuch, the city of Asheville’s assistant planning director, said the idea is to try to help “breathe some new life into some projects.” The number of new projects has notably declined over the past 18 months or so.
“Lots of renovations, lots of additions,” Tuch said, referring to new and recent building proposals. “We have been noticing over the last year there’s not as much new construction, but actual permit activity is almost flat. It’s all smaller additions, renovations — it appears that people are kind of hunkering down and making do with what they have.”
The same holds true with the county, said Buncombe County Planner Jim Coman, adding that a crimped lending spigot is the main culprit.
“Even the best builders in town with the best reputations are having trouble getting funding,” he said.
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