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Consultation Report:
Reuse Appraisal Civic Center, Asheville, N.C.
 

        
[Cover] Consultation Report: Reuse Appraisal Civic Center, Asheville, N.C.
Special Collections, D.H. Ramsey Library, UNCA

Housing Authority of the City of Asheville

This publication, the third in a series of reports from Roy Wenzlick & Co., deals with the reuse appraisals for the lands involved in the Civic Redevelopment Project (NC R-13).  The report goes through each parcel of land designated for commercial, residential, public/semi-public, and public institutional use, describing it, speculating what kind of building would be best suited for that particular parcel, and estimating its resale value.   A list of comparable land sales recently made in the Asheville area is included as evidence of the current value of land in Asheville. The plan is treated as comprehensive and nearly all-encompassing.  At the end of the report, the authors petition the Redevelopment Commission that, should revisions be needed, the entire plan “be considered frozen at this time, and no major changes from the proposed land use should be considered until adequate study has proved them to be feasible and to fit into the overall objective.” The emphasis is on deliberate, well-thought-out planning, with the ultimate objective of bringing people into downtown Asheville.

Consultation
Report

REUSE APPRAISAL
CIVIC CENTER
ASHEVILLE, N.C.

TELEPHONE GARFIELD I-0706
706 CHESTNUT STREET ST. LOUIS 1, MO.

February 20, 1961

Redevelopment Commission
City of Asheville, North Carolina
Post Office Box 7148
Asheville, North Carolina

Attn: Charles M. Dent, Jr.,
        Executive Director

Gentlemen:

We are pleased to submit herewith six copies of our Reuse Appraisal for the Civic Redevelopment Project N.C. R-13, as agreed per our contract.

We are of the opinion that there will be a market for the residential site and for the six commercial sites. We further believe that these seven parcels will sell for approximately our indicated values, if offered in the correct sequence and advertised widely so as to attract all possible redevelopers. The Public and Public Institutional sites have been evaluated on the basis of alternate uses. It must be kept in mind, that the City and the Civic Center group must be developed in order to have a project. The remainder of the parcels could actually be sold for their alternate uses without harming the overall project in anyway.

As shown on the Appraisal Certificate, we have concluded a total estimated fair market value of all sites appraised of $1,807,750. Of this total, $965,850 constitute the Public and Public Institutional total, pointing out the necessity of the active participation of these groups. Since the values are actually a forecast of fair market value of parcels of land which will be available at sometime in the future, they are subject to all of the usual hazards of forecasting. We call attention to both the statement of limiting conditions contained in the Appraisal Certificate and in the Reuse Appraisal.

Respectfully submitted,

Hiram C. Martin, Jr.

HCM:bb

Appraisal Certificate

This is to certify that the property known as sites for redevelopment in the Civic Redevelopment Project NC R-13, Asheville, North Carolina briefly described as 35 parcels with a total area of 1,784,843 square feet:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I

INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVES

As authorized by state and federal legislation, the City of Asheville, North Carolina, through its Redevelopment Commission is proceeding with plans for the clearance and redevelopment of the city's blighted area. This report is concerned with the first project, known as the Civic Redevelopment Project, N.C. R-13.

As shown on the exhibits, this area is located adjacent to the City Hall and Court House extending to the expressway being bounded generally by Market Street on the west. Details on the exact location and the disposition are in the next section. A Transient Housing Study and a Marketability Study preceded the adoption of the present land use plan. There will still be minor changes due to technical details but for the purposes of this report, we are considering the land use map and the land disposition map as frozen for the time being.

The objective of this report is:
     To estimate the fair market value of the various tracts of land in the area after the site has been cleared and made available for new uses in accordance with the plan.

This objective is interrelated with the results of the previously completed Marketability Study, as the potential sale of these sites depends on the feasibility of their use. The sale of each site in this project is interdependent on every other site and the price for which each property can be sold depends on the selling and developing of each other site. This unusual condition is brought about primarily because of the civic nature of the project and by the avowed intent of the city to use the project to bring people in large numbers into the downtown Asheville area. While to a degree, the project is able to

When we speak of economic feasibility in this report, we are speaking of the highest and best use of this area as if vacant. We are not concerned with the economics of trying to justify the relatively high cost of acquiring the private properties in this area for redevelopment.

As for any commodity, the demand for real estate must include not only the desire for possession but also the ability to acquire. Supply is not only the existence of a commodity, but its existence at the right place, at the right time, and at the right price. Naturally, a reuse appraisal such as this must look to the future, which involves forecasting with all its hazards. Therefore, it will not be possible to arrive at precise conclusions as to the demand and supply situation for new commercial and residential sites in the Civic Redevelopment Project. As previously explained, this will depend a great deal on the extent of the public and semi-public redevelopment at the time of offering these sites for sale. However, by investigating as many known factors as are available it is possible to draw general conclusions as to both economic feasibility and sale price.

II

REUSE APPRAISAL

The appraisal of land for reuse in redevelopment areas is somewhat more speculative and hypothetical than the ordinary market value appraisal of private property. In a reuse appraisal there are complicating factors of time, highest and best use, method of disposal, restrictive limitations imposed on the land, property rights involved, and especially the fact that it is very difficult to make comparisons with other land market data because of several features unique to redevelopment areas.

The concluded values in this appraisal are based on the data contained in the following sections. Good appraisal practice dictates a careful description of:

     1. The purpose of the appraisal
     2. The property to be appraised
     3. The property rights involved
     4. The date of the appraisal

These qualifying items form the basis for the concluded land values and should be included whenever the values are considered.

All of the material contained in the preceding reports on transient housing and marketability is pertinent to the appraisal and shall be considered as integral parts thereof.

PURPOSE OF APPRAISAL

The purpose of this appraisal is to estimate the fair market value of the land only included in the Civic Redevelopment Project area after the

Fair market value may be defined as:

     "...the highest price estimated in terms of money that a willing and well-informed buyer would be warranted in paying and a willing and equally well-informed seller justified in accepting for a property if placed on the market for a reasonable period of time; with both parties acting free of compulsion or duress and with all rights or benefits inherent in or attributable to the property included in said value."

For this appraisal, we are assuming that the "buyers" will be both private parties and public agencies, and that land will be sold by competitive bidding. In the latter case, the appraised values are based upon the most feasible alternative private use of the parcels in accordance with the intent of the over-all redevelopment plan and the city's zoning ordinance.

The "seller" will be the Redevelopment Commission of the City of Asheville, North Carolina, which agency we assume will widely advertise the various sites for sale, fully informing the public of restrictions as to use and other factors.

PROPERTY TO BE APPRAISED

The property to be appraised is shown on the Land Use Map on the following page. In this reuse appraisal, individual valuations will be estimated for each of the parcels as designated on the map. Certain properties as designated on the map are to be excluded from the clearance program and hence will not be available as parts of the sites. The appraisal of the various sections of the project area will not include the ground area of the excluded parcels. It

General Land Use Plan

ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

PROPERTY RIGHTS INVOLVED

"All rights or benefits inherent" in the subject sites include the usual rights and benefits of ownership in fee simple.

These rights and benefits, of course, are restricted also by the reservations contained in the redevelopment plan itself as to use, height, density, yard requirements, off-street parking, setbacks, etc.

PREMISES OF APPRAISAL

In addition, we have based our appraisals of the subject sites on the following assumptions and limitations:

1.  No restrictions on the use of material and labor will prevent a purchaser from constructing improvements in accordance with the plan.

2.  Sites will be offered with streets and utilities provided as shown in the plan.

3.  The entire project area may not be cleared and offered at one time. Rather, we assume that the project area will be cleared and developed in progressive stages according to the plan over a period of several years.

4.  Utilization of all of the land will take place in a reasonable time subsequent to its purchase by redevelopers, be they private, semi-public or public agencies.

Land Disposition Plan

CIVIC REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT
NC - R - 13
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

PROJECT BOUNDARY
PARCELS NOT TO BE ACQUIRED
C - COMMERCIAL PARCELS
P - PUBLIC & SEMI-PUBLIC PARCELS
P-I  PUBLIC INSTITUTIONAL PARCELS
R - RESIDENTIAL (MULTI-FAMILY) PARCELS
EASEMENTS
EXPRESSWAY

6. Land values will fluctuate very little between the planning stage and the dates of the various land sales, subject to reasonable limitations contained in the next section, "Date of Appraisal".

7.  Site dimensions prepared by the local agency are assumed to be correct, unless otherwise stated herein.

8.  Other standard limiting conditions are contained in our appraisal certificate.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF APPRAISAL

The effective date of this appraisal is indefinite as it is not possible to predict precisely when the various sites in the project area will be cleared and offered for sale. We are assuming that the sites will become available during 1961 and continue throughout 1962.

Since the concluded values are actually forecasts of land value based on a study of past and current market conditions, it would seem necessary that these values be reviewed at the time the sites are ready for disposal. In view of the fact, however, that real estate values of the type involved have been relatively stable in the recent past, it is our feeling that the values concluded in this report should remain valid for at least 12 to 18 months.

METHOD OF APPRAISAL

In the following sections of this appraisal we have treated each site for disposal individually. For convenience we have grouped them into four major categories: residential, commercial, public or semi-public, and public institutional. All of the parcels are identified on the disposal plan on the previous page.

An alternate method of appraising vacant land is the use of the land residual technique of the income approach to value. This method assumes the construction of a hypothetical new building or buildings on a parcel of land. The fair annual net return on the known building cost (interest and provision for depreciation) is deducted from the estimated annual net income to the property (land and building). The residual income is attributable to the land, and is capitalized to indicate the land value. In this type of analysis, it is necessary to estimate construction costs, fair rentals, vacancy rate, property expenses and capitalization rates, thus creating a pyramid of estimates. Due to this situation, the land residual method is not as reliable an indicator of value as is the market data approach. Also, any change in the size and resulting income of the building would change the estimate of land value. However, because there have been very few sales of property in Asheville for the uses intended in the redevelopment area, we have used this method in some places as a check on the market data in order to prove economic feasibility.

III

COMPARABLE SALES

GENERAL

In attempting to set up comparable sales of similar vacant property to the subject property after clearing, it was found that very few sales were available for similar purposes. As a result, there is a great deal of dependence upon degree of comparison, and general classification of use rather than specific use. In cases where sales were of improved property, we have talked to owners, checked asking prices of similar or adjacent property, and estimated that portion of the sale attributable to the ground. We recognize that the projection of the values obtained through comparable sales is predicated primarily on the past, and therefore have compensated somewhat by assigning values based more on use than on resulting square or front foot values indicated by comparable sales. There follows a list of comparable sales:

     1. Vacant lot of irregular wedge shape formed by the intersection of Biltmore and Valley Streets known as tax lots 334-336, Ward 1, Sheet 5, sold February 20, 1957, zoned commercial, recorded in Book 784, page 127. The site is roughly a triangle containing 37,696 square feet having all utilities available. Sold by U.T. Cannon to Gulf Oil Company for $60,000 which is $1.59 per square foot.

     2. Vacant lot on the southwest corner of Patton and French Broad Avenue known as tax lots 50-51, Ward 4, Sheet 2, zoned business, has all utilities, is level, sold March 20, 1960, recorded in Book 826, page 158. Sold by Investment Developers, Inc. to Public Service Company of North Carolina for $38,500. Lot is 74' x 118' and contains 8,735 square feet which amounts to $4.40 per square foot or $250 per front foot.

     4. Vacant lot on the northeast corner of College and Market Streets, presently used for parking and leased to the City of Asheville for 25 years in 1960 at $2,700 per year, being tax lots 28-29, Ward 2, Sheet 1. Lots contain 6,500 square feet having 65 feet frontage on College by 100 feet frontage on Market Street. Capitalizing the income at 7% shows a value of $38,571 or $5.90 per square foot.

     5. Vacant lots at number 16 Charlotte Street being tax lots 103-103½-104-105, Ward 2, Sheet 1. Sold November 19, 1958 by Gene Ochsenreiter Inc. to the North Carolina Highway Commission and recorded in Book 807, page 171. Lot fronts 280 feet on Charlotte by a depth of 177.5 feet on Orchard and a depth of 204.85 feet on the expressway, totaling 54,748 square feet. Sold for $31,900 or $.58 per square foot. This also breaks down to $100 per front foot on both Charlotte and Orchard.

     6. Vacant lot at 170-172 Charlotte Street being tax lots 25-26-26¼-27, Ward 2, Sheet 16. Front 160 feet on Charlotte by 220.36 feet deep, having a width of 213.34 feet at rear of lot, containing 37,400 square feet. Lot sold for $22,500 being recorded in Book 805, page 391. A filling station was erected on the site. Sale price indicates a value of $.60 per square foot or $140 per front foot uncorrected for depth.

     7. Vacant lot at 155 Charlotte Street being tax lot 76, Ward 2, Sheet 16, fronting 64.3 feet on Charlotte and having a width of 68 feet in the rear by a depth of 200 feet. Sold November 15, 1956 for $10,000 by T.C. Rogers to Gulf Oil Company, being recorded in Book 780, page 151. Lot contains 12,639 square feet indicating a value of $.79 per square foot or $156 per front foot uncorrected for depth.

     9. Vacant lot at 162 College Street being tax lots 94-95-95½, Ward 2, Sheet 1, fronting 117 feet on College Avenue and having a width of 106.7 feet at the rear by a depth of 185 feet on the west and 160 feet on the east containing 18,406 square feet. Sold in 1954, for $41,900 which adjusted to 1961 indicates a value of $2.30 per square foot or an effective front foot value of $440. A small branch bank with drive-in facilities was constructed on this site for $33,000 plus $19,500 for site improvements.

     10. Vacant lot at the northeast corner of Haywood and Montford Streets being tax lot 147, Ward 3, Sheet 1, after the highway had taken a portion of it in 1959, was leased in 1960 to the Battery Park Hotel for a parking lot based on an appraised valuation of $86,000 for $6,450 per year. On a front foot basis this amounts to $300 indicated value.

     11.  Vacant lot on the north side of Woodfin at the ramp of the new expressway fronting 146 feet on Woodfin, being of irregular shape on the curve of the ramp approximately 175 feet deep at the deepest point. Property is leased to the First Baptist Church for a parking lot for $25.00 per month. That this is an uneconomic lease is established by the assessed value which is $5,388. Based on taxes and adjacent property, it appears that the front foot value should approximate $100.

     13. A motel on tax lot 77, Ward 8, Sheet 25, was sold in April 1960 by Zeb Brown to Holliday Motel, Inc., for $91,861. The land area is 20,090 square feet on which is one structure containing 5,780 square feet having 22 rooms and baths. From the observed net condition, we have evaluated the improvements, furniture, etc., at $75,861 following a reproduction cost less depreciation method leaving $16,000 as the indicated value of the land. This amounts to $.80 per square foot or an indicated value of $34,848 per acre.

     14. In addition to the above, we sought out asking prices on all types of property, because available properties will be the competition for project land. In the case of motels the asking prices of the most desirable property on Tunnel Road start at $35,000 per acre for adequate frontage and depth. We were told by the owner of the Howard Johnson motel that the land cost was $33,000 per acre on the most recent purchase.

ANALYSIS OF COMPARABLE SALES

From the foregoing sales listed in the previous section plus information obtained from owners, realtors, managers, and tenants we have determined certain square foot, and front foot land values prevalent in recent years. Although the expressway purchases were under the threat of condemnation, we have been influenced by the prices paid

The comparable sales data has been most valuable in the instance of the hotel parking, municipal parking, office building and other commercial areas.

It must be remembered however, that the sale of project land for the new use proscribed and under the new restrictions may not have comparable sales to an exact degree. Therefore, the sales data is used as a bracket within which the new development must be able to buy and be economically stable in relationship to the net income of the proposed redevelopment.

IV

APPRAISAL OF RESIDENTIAL SITE

LOCATION & ENVIRONMENT

The only site for residential purposes in the proposed redevelopment plan is shown on the Land Disposal Plan. It is a parcel designated as R-1, being bounded on the north by Woodfin Street, the east by public parking, the south by a new access street and the west by parking for the hotel. While this may seem to be a rather commercial or public atmosphere, and consequently not conducive to residential use, it must be pointed out that the intended reuse of the site is for a high-rise luxury or semi-luxury apartment building. This type of residential use is compatible with all the new uses which will surround the site, and the existing hotel use to the west which will remain. These new uses will be: a luxury type motel and restaurant, a public amusement and recreational area, the Civic Center Auditorium Building and parking area, the Thomas Wolfe Memorial, newly created shops, and parking for the existing hotel. The site is large enough to contain a building having 94 dwelling units as indicated in the market analysis. It can have inside and underground parking, and be set back from the street with adequate landscaping for patio and terrace privacy. It is easy walking distance from the Court House, City Hall, downtown shopping area, Civic Center, amusements, and all facilities necessary to a good apartment site. We believe the highest and best use of this site to be for a luxury type high-rise apartment.

STANDARDS

The standards or additional requirements to be imposed on a developer of this parcel would require that he construct a high-rise apartment building of above average calibre. He should provide off-street parking facilities for as many cars as dwelling units, preferably in basement or underground areas. Set-back lines should be such that landscaping will be provided. Access should be provided for an off

APPRAISAL

In appraising this residential site, we have attempted to be consistent with front foot and square foot values, as well as with an economic land cost per dwelling unit for a high-rise apartment. By comparable sales and the intended uses, we have established a generalized value of $250 per front foot on Woodfin Avenue from Broadway to Oak Streets. As there is no uniformity of depth to any parcel fronting on Woodfin, we have to adjust for depth or add for rear acreage. In this instance, we have added $6.00 to the front foot base to compensate for additional depth. This results in the following: 275+ front feet x $256 = $70,400. This compares favorably with comparable sale No. 8. If we divide the $70,400 by 94 dwelling units, the answer $749 is well within the economic range of the high-rise multiple family building in ground cost per dwelling unit. Also to check this cost of $1.62 per square foot, we have used a land residual technique. In this, because of the room distribution arrived at in the Market Analysis, we have held the construction cost to an average of $11,000 per dwelling unit, including air conditioning and garage. The result also checks out the indicated property value as follows:

V

APPRAISAL OF COMMERCIAL SITES

LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT

The commercial sites have three general locations. The northwestern and largest group consists of all of the area north of Woodfin Street between Broadway and Oak Streets and two sites on the south side of Woodfin each adjacent to the Asheville Biltmore Hotel. The northeastern commercial area consists of one site east of the combination office building and nursing home north of Woodfin between the nursing home and the expressway. The southern commercial grouping consists of two sites for office buildings on College Street north of the Court House. Each site is located on the Land Disposition Map on the following page. The future environment of each site is totally compatible with all surroundings except possibly one area adjacent to the First Baptist Church. The terrain at this point becomes quite a protective barrier for the church as the ground slopes rapidly away from the church. Protection is also offered the church in the plan by a private cul-de-sac entrance which also separates the church from the commercial area. As explained previously, each parcel depends on the development of the Civic Center and of the other commercial properties in order to create this environment. Each parcel will be described separately in the appraisal.

STANDARDS

The standards set by the Redevelopment Agency for the commercial areas will differ with each parcel. Only certain uses established by the market analysis will be allowed. Parking will be required in excess of the existing ordinances and new set-back lines will be established. Standards will be reviewed on each parcel.

TOPOGRAPHY

The physical shape as well as the topography of each individual site is different

Land Disposition Plan
CIVIC REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
NC - R - 13
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

PROJECT BOUNDARY
PARCELS NOT TO BE ACQUIRED
C -- COMMERCIAL PARCELS

EASEMENTS
EXPRESSWAY

APPRAISALS

SITE C-1

This parcel is located on high ground which slopes down to the west, north and somewhat to the east. The plan calls for development with an office building, which we believe to be the highest and best use. The parcel contains 69,700 square feet and while situated actually on three streets, it has access only to Woodfin Street. The proposed office building would house the Chamber of Commerce and perhaps other civic functions. In the market analysis, we showed a conservative demand for 160,000 square feet of office space, of which 53,000 square feet was for the Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. Since that time, we have received additional replies to our questionnaire further strengthening our results and indicating an even greater demand than we had anticipated. We feel very conservative, therefore, when we state that a 50,000 square foot office building on this site could be readily absorbed.

As there have been no new downtown office buildings constructed recently, we have relied strongly on the price paid for the bank site and downtown parking. This site is closer to the central business district than any other site in the project, and is available to the expressway. The highest and best use is for an office building.

In order to further test this indicated value and the values of sites C-6 and C-7, we have created a hypothetical building and run a land residual applicable to all three sites as follows:

Parcel C-2 is an irregular shaped parcel on the north side of Woodfin, east of parcel C-1. It is bounded on the west by an expressway ramp, the north by the expressway and on the east by Central Avenue which goes under the expressway. It fronts about 387 feet on Woodfin Street and contains 147,000 square feet or 3.4 acres. The ground slopes down to the expressway and down to the east. In the transient housing study, made separately, it was determined that a 200 unit motel could be readily absorbed by downtown Asheville if the Civic Center Project was completed. This parcel is an ideal site for such a motel. It is directly across the street from the Asheville Biltmore Hotel and the new high rise apartment site. To the west will be a new office building, to the east will be a large amusement and recreation area, to the southeast is the new Civic Center. The site is prominent and the terrain easily adaptible [sic] to motel use.

APPRAISAL

Using the land prices ascribed to recent motel sales and asking prices of land available for motel on the periphery, we have determined a price of $40,000 per acre which indicates a front foot value of $350 uncorrected for depth. This amounts to:

3.4 acres x $40,000 = $136,000

As a further check on this value, we have run a land residual on this property as follows:

MOTEL LAND RESIDUAL

We have assumed the construction of a hypothetical motel of 200 units with a gross floor area of approximately 90,000 square feet. We estimate that 60,000 square feet will be utilized for guest rooms, providing an average of 300 square feet per room. The remaining space of 30,000 square feet will be utilized as lobby, restaurant-cocktail lounge, service facilities and swimming pool. The gross floor area amounts to 450 square feet per room. Specifications would provide for a fireproof structure, floors and roof of reinforced concrete. Exterior cavity walls of brick or stone with concrete block back up plastered and quality construction to be carried throughout. Design would be characteristic of modern motor hotels. Cost estimates include air conditioning and heating throughout, adequate parking and site improvements and swimming pool area. Based on our studies and appraisals of similar properties, the cost estimate of this unit in Asheville would be $17.77 per square foot of gross floor area or $8,000 per rental unit.

We estimate an average rental of $10.00 per room, per day, although we know summer is higher and winter is lower. A conservative occupancy rate of 72.5% has been used. Of course, there will also be income from food and beverage sales and other miscellaneous income.

Properties of this type are usually constructed by a developer and leased to a hotel or motel operator such as Hotel Corporation of America, Hilton, Pick Hotel Inc., or others while the terms of the lease may vary somewhat in each case, the lessor is assured of a reasonable return on and of his investment. We find from experience this reasonable return is realized by the lessor when he received a rent equal to from 26 to 30% of the net room sales. So, for our purpose we will use 28% with the lessee paying all taxes and insurance. It is also customary, and so a premise here, that 

TOPOGRAPHY

The terrain is quite useable for this purpose, although it contains the lowest ground in the project. It is located east of parcel C-2 on the north side of relocated Woodfin Street between Central and Oak Streets and backs up to the expressway. The expressway is higher than the site and the entire parcel is therefore visible to drivers on the expressway. A city park containing a lake is to be built across the street to the south. If the redeveloper desires it, this lake can extend under Woodfin and continue into parcel C-3. Should fill for this parcel be necessary, it could be obtained from excavation for all new structures in the project as this site should be the last one to be sold.

APPRAISAL

Evaluating a site for an amusement park is really just trying to out guess the promoter of such a venue. However, this land although further from the central business district than C-1 and C-2, is closer to the Civic Center. The terrain makes it a little less desirable. Certainly it is the equal of the comparable motel sites. Front foot value doesn't have much meaning for a site this large in the heart of a community, so we have used an acreage value of $35,000 per acre, or 5.42 acres x $35,000 = $189,700. This follows a descending pattern of value from parcels C-1 and C-2, which will be continued in Parcel P I-6 and C-B, for the alternate use, and commercial use respectively.

This parcel fronts 75 feet on the south side of Woodfin Street, immediately east of the Asheville Biltmore Hotel. It is 164 feet deep and contains 12,300 square feet. It is flat and is presently used for parking by guests of the hotel. We believe that this parking facility is essential to the hotel. We also believe that if restrictions as to its use as a parking facility for the hotel could be improved, that there would be no valid reason for buying the property. However, as it was included within the project area, it is necessary to appraise it.

APPRAISAL

By using the comparable sales for parking lots as a check to the $250 a front foot value which we believe to be adequate for this depth lot fronting on Woodfin, we find that we are reasonable for such a location. Therefore, we have 75 front feet x $250 = $18,550  Call $18,500.

SITE C-5 APPRAISAL

This parcel fronts 60 feet on Market Street adjacent to the Asheville Biltmore Hotel. It contains 8,040 square feet which would best be used as a parking garage to provide additional parking for the hotel, the Civic Center and Wolfe Memorial. The front on such a structure could contain small shops or a grocery store to serve the apartments. As it is less valuable frontage than Woodfin frontage, we have used $200 per front foot uncorrected for depth of 60 feet x $200 = $12,000. This makes both C-4 and C-5 average about $1.50 per square foot which is within the range of comparable parking facilities.

SITES C-6 and C-7 LOCATION

Parcels C-6 and C-7 must be discussed together in that both are sites for office buildings. C-6 is located at the northeast intersection of College and Market Streets. To the end is a new city park which extends a green area from Pack Square through the city-county plaza to the new Civic Center Building. C-7 is adjacent to this park on the east.

The grades in this whole area north of College Street are gentle. They slope downward to the east and to the north. From a future standpoint, the two office buildings on each side of the park will frame and limit the park and the Civic Building. The continuity of green area and the size of the parcels will create an openness seldom seen in a downtown area. The continuation of the park containing a lake north of C-7 and east of the Civic Center will create a spaciousness that will be most inviting. Such amenities, normally unavailable in a downtown area help in creating values.

RESTRICTIONS

If possible, the same redeveloper should develop both sites, as the buildings should really represent twin towers. The building on C-6, we envision as the professional and business building, while on C-7 we believe the state and federal offices should be located. These buildings should contain approximately 60,000 square feet each and should be similar in character and structure. First floor uses could be commercial, such as a bank with drive-in facilities, restaurant, drug store, and some small shops that could stay open evenings to serve the Civic Center trade. Parking should be required on a matching square foot basis of office space which means basement and underground parking.

APPRAISAL

Based on comparable sales of the branch bank on College Street and central business district sales, we have assigned square foot rather than front foot values to the property north of College Street. The double and practically triple frontage of C-6 has resulted in a $3.00 per square foot value from which we decline to $2.00 at College and Oak Streets. Of course, the difference in depths of the parcels results in a variance of front foot values. We believe that parcel C-6 is the choice commercial site in the project,

SITE C-8 LOCATION

This parcel is located on the north side of Woodfin Street adjacent to and east of the nursing home. It is bounded on the north and on the east by the right-of-way for the expressway. It is almost a triangle in shape and contains 14,000 square feet. It is approximately level and is available for parking or a small office or shop, possibly doing business with the institutional use to the south or east.

APPRAISAL

Values going east on Woodfin Street decline from the high of Parcel C-1 to a low on this parcel C-8. These values were obtained from the comparable sales and adjusted for depth or acreage. Thus, we find that the lowest value on the north side of this street occurs here at $.60 per square foot, or 14,000 square feet x $.60 = $8,400.

VI

APPRAISAL OF PUBLIC SITES

LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT

The normal classification of public and semi-public sites has been divided into public and public institutional because of the preponderance of sites in these classifications. The primary factor in the division was ownership. All parcels to be purchased by the City of Asheville are called public sites and carry the P designation. Four of these sites are located on each side of the Civic Center Building, thus framing it with parks or municipal parking. A fifth site is an extended City County Plaza, most of which the city already owns. The sixth site is at the cul-de-sac of Poplar Street at Beaucatcher Mountain. On this rather rugged site the city will have to develop a natural park area, which will be available to serve the Allen School and those who live south of Poplar Street.

GENERAL CONDITIONS

Normal standards generally required of a redeveloper are not applicable to these properties. Because of the need for parking around the Civic Center, parcel P-1 is to be developed with municipal parking. Because of the terrain, this will probably be done with a double deck structure. As a result, the alternate commercial use would be the same. Parcel P-2 uses the same reasoning, although it will not be double decked which partially accounts for the square foot difference in value. The remaining difference is due to location on Woodfin of P-1. Parcel P-3 is one of the choice parcels between two office buildings. The alternate commercial use would be the same as C-6 and C-7 resulting in the evaluation. Parcel P-4, is a very odd shape following the contour of a newly created lake, plus a municipal parking area. Of course there is not much alternate use for the lake, so we assume that it would not be created and designate the area for commercial and commercial parking use, pricing it in similar fashion

Land Disposition Plan
CIVIC REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT
NC - R- 13
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

PROJECT BOUNDARY
PARCELS NOT TO BE ACQUIRED

P -- PUBLIC & SEMI-PUBLIC PARCELS

EASEMENTS
EXPRESSWAY

Parcel P-5 is the City County Plaza extension. This area in the form of park or street is almost entirely owned by the city at the present time. The changing shape of this area up to Pack Square, will change traffic patterns. The alternate use as commercial or commercial parking would undoubtedly bring the highest price of any property in the project due to the extremely prominent location resulting in great desirability and economic potential. By our computation, however, the City of Asheville already owns all but 35,600 square feet of this area which we have valued at $4.00 per square foot.

Parcel P-6 is quite rugged in character, but as an alternate use, we have used multiple family garden type apartments. While extensive grading would be necessary, and a very low density would result from the necessity of scattering the buildings, a beautiful arrangement would result. Because of these factors, however, plus the fact that this type of development usually uses cheaper open land, we have used a low acreage price.

While the city cannot be forced to develop any of these parcels, its contribution, by buying and developing them can be used in lieu of cash to meet its one-third share of the over-all cost of the project. In this manner, the city will obtain more for their money than simply putting out cash for their share of the project cost.

Following the above described conditions and comparisons, we have computed a table of values for the public sites as follows:

VII

APPRAISAL OF PUBLIC INSTITUTIONAL SITES

LOCATION AND ENVIRONMENT

As explained previously, the Public Institutional Sites would normally be included as Public or Semi-Public sites. However, we separated this classification according to ownership, and the Public Institutional classification consists of the Public or Semi-Public sites to be purchased by groups or institutions other than the City of Asheville. Care should be taken by the Redevelopment Commission to insure credit to the city of all purchases and development by institutions such as the Board of Education and Health Department. At least some portion of these expenses will go toward meeting the city's share of the net project cost.

Generally, the PI classification covers the church sites, school sites and the Civic Center site. The latter, of course, is the key to the whole project and is in the very center of the intense redevelopment. The area to the east is mainly for church and school expansion. Topography and location as well as alternate use will be described briefly with each site.

APPRAISALS

SITE PI-1

This parcel is intended as a site for one of the churches to be displaced by the project. It fronts 250 feet on Orchard by 111 feet on Central and contains 31,900 square feet. It is suitable topographically and has good access. We have used an alternate use of single family residential and have estimated a value of $80 per front foot or 80 x 250 = $20,000.

Land Disposition Plan
CIVIC REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT
NC - R- 13
ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

PROJECT BOUNDARY
PARCELS NOT TO BE ACQUIRED

P-I  PUBLIC INSTITUTIONAL PARCELS

EASEMENTS
EXPRESSWAY

This parcel, like PI-1 is a site for a relocated church from within the project area. It fronts 189 feet on Orchard Street and contains 23,500 square feet. The terrain is similar to PI-1 and access is also good. The alternate use is single family residential and the indicated front foot value is also $80. Therefore, we have $80 x 189 = $15,120.

SITE PI-3

This parcel is a part of the Civic Center Project. It is separated from the main parcel for Civic Center use only because it may be desirable for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial rather than the Civic Center organization to purchase the property. It is irregular in shape being on the east and south of the present Wolfe Memorial, and contains 23,419 square feet. To the north is a new street and to the south a municipal parking lot. The alternate use is for additional parking, which because of the parking to the northeast, northwest and south, plus a certain degree of difficult access would reduce the parking price to an indicated value of $1.00 per square foot or 23,419 square feet x $1.00 = $23,419 Call $23,000.

SITE PI-4

This parcel is the one on which will be developed the actual Civic Center structure. It is of very irregular shape, being bounded on the east by the new park and lake, the north by parking facilities, on the west by PI-3, and on the south by City Park. It contains 113,000 square feet or 2.6 acres. Because of the similarity with the C-3 area and the lack of frontage, the alternate commercial use would be difficult. As explained in parcel P-4, the lake probably would not be developed and a street would have to be made. In addition to these improvement costs, we are still following a declining pattern of values from west to east. For the alternate commercial use therefore, we have indicated a value of $35,000 per acre, or 2.6 acres x $35,000 per acre = $91,000.

This parcel is intended to be used for expansion of the Christian Church. It is just north of the church and fronts on Oak Street and relocated Woodfin Street. It contains 27,000 square feet intended for a building addition and parking facilities. Additional parking is to the west. The alternate use is commercial parking which by both the comparable sales and declining values indicates a value of $1.75 per square foot. Double frontage and the major artery increase the value from PI-4. Thus we have 27,000 square feet x $1.75 = $47,200.

SITE PI-6

Sites numbered PI-6, 7, 8 are all intended for expansion of the First Baptist Church. PI-6 is north of the church. Woodfin Street is to be closed, thereby isolating an area already owned by the church and used for parking. The area of street owned on both sides by the church has been deducted from the total area, because by closing the street, the church would automatically acquire the land. It is necessary to provide a utility easement or an extension of Oak Street to the expressway. The alternate use of this site would be commercial or parking probably in the form of an extension of parcel C-3. Although the terrain is higher and better suited for commercial use than C-3, we have followed the declining pattern of value because of the church property in the middle of the site and to compensate for the easement. We have therefore used an indicated value of $30,000 per acre. The total area of the parcel is 79,400 square feet from which we subtract 8,750 square feet of closed street to obtain the following: 70,650 square feet = 1.62 acres or 1.62 acres x $30,000 = $48,600.

SITE PI-7

This parcel is to the east and south of the First Baptist Church, fronting on College Park Place and Oak Street. Even with College Park Place being a major traffic artery, we believe the alternate use to be residential in character, because of the church and school influence.

SITE PI-8

This parcel is to the west and south of the First Baptist Church educational building. Charlotte Street, in a depressed right-of-way, separates the church from this property. The alternate use is single family residential as parcel PI-7. Because of the additional depth to the potential lots, however, we find an indicated value of $60 per front foot. The total frontage of Woodfin and College Park Place is an effective frontage of 270 feet or 270 feet x $60 = $16,200. Four lots can be obtained, making the cost per lot $4,050 which is reasonable.

SITE PI-9

Site PI-9 is intended for use as a site for the YMCA which presently occupies site C-1. Common use with the school of the playground PI-11 is contemplated. The alternate use of this site is for single family residential use. It fronts on both Woodfin Street and College Park Place and could be subdivided into 10 lots: a small utility easement, not affecting building sites, is on the northern boundary. Because of the depth factor and the ultimate lot size, we find an indicated value of $60 per front foot. As there is a total effective frontage of 600 feet, we find: 600 feet x $60 = $36,000 or $3,600 per lot which is reasonable.

SITE PI-10

This small parcel is created by the realignment of Charlotte Street. It is situated between the Junior High School and Charlotte which is depressed at this point. Actually, there is no possible alternate use due to a very limited frontage on College Park Place, mak