The Ellington – A Room With a View

ellington-1.jpgWhenever we start thinking about the Ellington, we can’t help wondering…

First, let us make clear that we have no formal opinion about the building itself. Some of us like the architecture a lot; some are indifferent. Some are strongly in favor of downtown infill development; others wonder if a building this size might be a little too much of a good thing for such a small lot.

The prices of the units and hotel rooms are way too high for our blood; as for the benefits accrued to the City’s tax base and the affordable housing fund, we find it hard to complain about such sweeteners, even if they were added only to sway City Council to approve the building. Not everyone can be happy about everything, and there’s not much we can do to keep the Ellington’s spire from gracing — or ruining — our skyline.

But from where we sit
on The Block, we find it fascinating that just a few hundred yards
separate Asheville’s newest super-luxury high-rise from the city’s
historic African-American district’s front yard. Million-dollar
condominiums sold for their views of Mt. Pisgah and City Hall will also
overlook some dilapidated buildings on Eagle and Market Streets. Hotel
guests expecting to enjoy every amenity will — when they’re not whisked
away by the Grove Park Inn’s shuttle — have to walk only a few hundred
feet to visit storied Triangle Park, with its homeless and idlers.


The transformation of downtown Asheville started a long time ago. In
the 1970s both Valley Street and half of Pack Square disappeared;
“urban renewal,” or “removal,” demolished scores of homes to make way
for the South Charlotte Street corridor, and the BBT and Biltmore
buildings replaced the small-scale shops facing the Vance Monument. In
the early 1980s community leaders led efforts to renovate the YMI and
anchor a renewal of The Block, and within a few years parts of Biltmore
Avenue and Haywood Street had begun to undergo their own privately
funded renaissance. By the ‘90s, much of the city’s reputation for
sophistication rested on downtown’s thriving nightlife, restaurants,
theatres, and shops.

 36A_0076-gs.jpg
 …We find it fascinating that just a
few hundred yards separate Asheville’s newest super-luxury high-rise from
the city’s historic African-American district’s front yard.

But as the rest of our downtown — white Asheville — was reborn, and
began to thrive, The Block — black Asheville — fell far behind. No
matter how we tried, and for whatever reasons, this community lagged in
its redevelopment efforts. Look elsewhere and compare: the derelict
department stores along Haywood and Battery Park now house the
exquisite Haywood Park Hotel, boutiques, fine dining, and half a dozen
luxurious apartment buildings. Shabby old Pack Library and the Plaza
Movie Theatre turned into Pack Place and the Diana Wortham complex. A
brand-new Chamber of Commerce building offers an elegant entryway to
the historic Montford community, where houses that sold for less than
$150,000 a few years ago have tripled or more in value. The redesign of
City-County Plaza continues, to the extent that part of the public’s
land might soon be turned into yet another luxury condo building’s
front yard. Even once-shabby Lexington Avenue is now bustling with
chic, trendy, and safe activities ranging from restaurants to funky
shops to charming apartments.


And yet The Block languishes. A few buildings along Eagle and Market
Street have, like the YMICC, been renovated, and three fine restaurants
attract customers from all over town. But the Del-Cardo and Collette
buildings, among others, are still waiting for someone to do something,
with hands out like Oliver Twist asking  “Please, sir, may I . . .?”


So we have to ask: Do the potential residents and guests of the
Ellington know what awaits them, who their neighbors are? Will they
have any idea that within a stone’s throw of their expensive front
doorstep is the historic front yard of Asheville’s lowest-income
community? When they venture to Ophelia’s, Limones, or The Ritz for a
meal, will they even realize where they are? Can we say, tongue in
ironic cheek, “Guess who’s coming to dinner?”


It may be just a short walk from Triangle Park to the Ellington’s front
door, but what a vast, unbridgeable distance separates the two.