Gabe Swinney Asheville New Urbanism

Asheville, North Carolina the shining green star of the east is closing in on another fantastic innovation that will permanently improve the quality of life in Western North Carolina. The Asheville Greenways Plan will soon connect the lives of thousands of residents in a whole new way. After all, what is better than a walk down a trail on a beautiful day? Now imagine if some of your favorite trails that you hike, bike, or just meander down could be transplanted and dropped in place to connect your neighborhood and your place of work or perhaps your downtown. If you can visualize that then your starting to catch a glimpse of the future in Asheville and its surrounding towns.

Already well underway, when the Asheville Greenways Project is complete there will be a minimum of 14 corridors and 29 miles of trails connecting the lives of the good people who call this place home. Just think about spending a Sunday walking along a tunnel of conservation and quality of life with your family while on your way to town for lunch or ice cream. Greenways are everything sidewalks hope to be when they grow up.

Almost everybody is waiting with much enthusiastic anticipation for the finished product: everyone that is except all of the outdoor enthusiasts. No, the famous Asheville outdoorsman and outdoorswoman are furious about the new trails. These runners, bikers, hikers, etc. who have spent years trying to get to know all of the natural wonder of the Asheville area are upset at the new work load. Do you have any idea how taxing it is to try and hike all the trails around Asheville let alone remember all of there names you can impress your friends? " I am just exhausted, how am I ever going to learn about all these trails if they keep adding more?!", is a common remark to hear around some of the Asheville area's outdoor outfitters. All I can say is that I am very excited about the Asheville Greenways Project, and I am really sorry for all of those poor tired outdoor enthusiasts.

A Day in the Life of: Asheville Green Building and Real Estate

This is just a brief peek into today and my adventures in Asheville's green building and real estate market. Although today should be pretty busy it is more or less a typical day and a good indicator of several parts of the green real estate brokerage process.

First thing is first. That means getting up early and heading to the local Black Mountain coffee shop, The Dripolator, to touch base with various clients and write something on ActiveRain about what I am going to do today. Great part of the day, sitting at the window watching the sleepy mountain town spring to life while I sip my green-tea.

Next thing is next. In a few minute I will "head up the hill" to a small development that I think of as one of the best kept secrets in the greater Asheville area. I offered to give a green builder friend of mine a hand working on the foundation of a spec house he recently started. I love getting my hands dirty from time to time; it is good for the soul.

After I have enough fun with construction I will hop on over to meet some other friends of mine from a conservation non-profit and go preview a sustainable development as a possible venue for an environmental contribution award ceremony that we are working on together.

Lastly assuming all has gone well, I will head back to Black Mountain to meet some of my old clients at the Pisgah Brewing Company to sip a fresh organic brew and talk about how good life is here; one of our favorite past times.

Buying Asheville Green Real Estate

Something you hear a lot around our office when considering Asheville green real estate is the question, "what is important to you?". This is really a doozie of a query because of the nature of sustainable building. Some people are drawn to Asheville because they have a conservation mindset and want to belong to a community that tries to uphold these values. There are those that want to buy green because they know that it is an intelligent investment, the look at how green homes appreciate and sell and that is all they need to know. Some also seek the recognition that comes with owning a high performance home, similar to the mentality of buying a luxury automobile. Regardless of what stirs you to buy or build green, once the sustainable choice is made there are a myriad of questions to follow.

Now, what are the green features that are important to you? I think my personal green dream looks a lot like the wood cutter's cottage from Snow White, only with radiant floor heating tied to solar hot water and a wind generator next store. I would be singing to all the little animals everyday.

But again, how about you? If you were moving to Asheville and wanted to buy green but the market only had homes with three green features each, which three would make one right for you? Would you start on the inside and make sure that your materials were as sustainable and healthy as possible, i.e. zero VOC paints and materials, bamboo or other alternative flooring, maybe even exciting water conserving fixtures. Or would these considerations take the back seat to energy conservation and green power such as icynene insulation or solar voltaic cells?

It can sound a tad bit overwhelming, especially for someone like me who has never really liked shopping. Really though it is such a fun and exciting process. One that I enjoy every single time I am a part of it. So it remains the Asheville green real estate question: what is important to you?

The Grove Park Inn on Macon Avenue in Asheville, North Carolina is one of the regions most legendary sites. You name it and you can have it around the Grove Park Inn. Luxury, relaxation, beauty, history, and perhaps even a brush with the supernatural are all things that this part of Macon Avenue are famous for. The Grove Park Inn itself draws visitors form all over the world and Macon Avenue real estate is some of the most sought after in the Asheville area.

The famous Grove Park Inn was completed in 1913. It was the dream of a man named E.W. Grove. Grove had made his fortune peddling a miracle elixir that at one point was outselling Coca-Cola. The giant resort was constructed out of granite boulders hauled from the local Sunset Mountain and modeled after the grand railway hotels of the American west. The setting was flawless, overlooking Asheville, North Carolina, the happiest city in the country like a stone monarch. A fitting counterpart to the nearby Biltmore Estate.

The landmark on Macon Avenue was not spared an ounce of captivating history, welcoming into its grand hall numerous presidents and legendarily distinguished guests. The Grove Park Inn is also famous as a haunted landmark. For more than three quarters of a century hotel employees and patrons have been reporting sightings of the Grove Park's Pink Lady. Believed to be the earth bound spirit of a young girl who tragically fell to her death on the grand hall, the Pink Lady has become a fascinating part of the Grove Park Inn's mystique.

Working with Macon Avenue real estate is working with part of the ongoing story of this splendid part of our region. The homes between The Grove Park Inn and Asheville's thriving downtown area generally as beautiful and historic as they are sought after.

Grove Park Photography

You don't have to search to deep with Google to find out that Asheville's housing market is still in pretty good shape. Their are many many reports and blogs on this subject. This is a comforting fact for someone like me, who works in the Asheville Real Estate Market but listens to dark speculation about the national market every day on my way to work. What we are currently faced with is not a depression but a ridiculous amount of opportunity.

I have heard other brokers say to me and their clients that Asheville is still a sellers market. I think this is true only so far. We have been effected by the national housing market slump and scare in the sense that our growth has slowed down a little. This slowing has been caused by the fact that people caught up in injured markets other places in the country are having trouble selling before they can move or retire to Western North Carolina. The thing about it is, we live in America, and although I may not always agree with the actions of our country, I believe in the greatness we share here. People in the United States will not allow things to go to bad. We are a tenacious people gifted with the ability to build our dreams. And even if the season of our economy or housing market nears winter, the wise investor will be preparing for spring. The continued growth of Asheville and a few other markets in America are the ripples on the water that indicate a big fish to the fisherman. Asheville is not a seller's market, it is an investors market as well as the market for families still trying to build a better and greener American Dream.

When the national housing market turns around, which is inevitable with so many intelligent people working to solve the problem, all of the potential energy built up during this slump will be unleashed and those people who have been brave enough to invest in the right markets will reel in all of the benefits. Happy 2008!