Eagle Market Place Asks City for Modifications

The Eagle Market Place housing development will ask Asheville City Council to modify city loans and conditions to help the project reach completion.

The project, located in Asheville’s historic African American business district (The Block), had to halt construction last October when a crack developed in one of the concrete slab foundations. Construction stopped while engineers, architects, contractors, sub-contractors, attorneys, insurers and the project’s lead development partner Mountain Housing Opportunities took time to sort out how to fix the problem.

Construction resumed in October. In documents attached to the city council agenda, Eagle Market Place LLC says that it is pursuing arbitration to recover the costs associated with fixing the faulty slab. However, waiting for the results of arbitration would delay project completion and further increase costs. Therefore, the project requests modifications to loans already pledged by the city to enable the developers to secure an additional $3 million construction loan.

Requested modifications includes; changes in the numbers of affordable vs. workplace housing units, disbursement of a $2.9 million loan at 50% construction completion, alterations to the schedule of disbursement for committed Section 108 loans, and a reduction in the interest rate of a loan from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund from 2% to 0%, which would be effective immediately.