70-Unit Affordable Senior Housing Complex Coming to East Asheville in 2027

The earth moving along Swannanoa River Road, visible from the Aldi parking lot and the Four Star Car Wash, is preparation for Redwood Commons, a four-story affordable senior apartment complex that Columbus, Ohio-based nonprofit Buckeye Community Hope Foundation plans to open at 21 Governors View Road by 2027. According to city plans, the entire 2.73-acre site sits within FEMA's designated 100-year floodplain, a designation that carries sharp local weight given that Hurricane Helene destroyed or damaged more than 100,000 homes across Western North Carolina in September 2024.

Asheville City Council approved the project in May 2022, according to Chris Collins, site planning and development manager with the city. The path to approval required a conditional rezoning: the River zoning district caps residential development at 49 units before that process triggers, but city officials pushed developer Buckeye Community Hope Foundation, known as BCHF, to exceed that threshold. The project expanded to 70 units under a rezone to the Residential Expansion district, a change that cleared both the Design Review Committee and the Planning and Zoning Commission before landing at City Council. City planner William Palmquist confirmed the final scope as a 70-unit senior living facility at 21 Governors View Road.

Steve Sceranka, director of real estate development southeast for BCHF's Housing Division, credited that partnership. "Asheville does it well because they look to be a partner in the development," he said. BCHF owns or manages more than 4,000 units across 11 states and builds exclusively affordable housing. All 70 units at Redwood Commons will be restricted to residents aged 55 or older, with rents capped at 60% of the Area Median Income. Under current HUD figures for the Asheville area, that means a single-person household cannot earn more than roughly $31,575 annually to qualify; the ceiling for a two-person household sits at approximately $36,075. The two parcels making up the site, formerly used for light industrial purposes, carry a combined appraised value of just under $530,000, per Buncombe County GIS records reappraised in 2021. All units will carry a minimum 30-year affordability covenant.

The site's flood exposure is addressed in construction plans, but only at the access point. A portion of Governors View Road will be elevated to maintain vehicle egress during high-water events. That road work does not remove the FEMA floodplain designation from the site itself. Compounding that concern, Swannanoa River Road, which runs along the project's southern boundary and already carries significant commuter traffic, serves as the primary east-west corridor for emergency services reaching Mission Hospital and Mission Children's Hospital. The corridor is already the subject of a flood mitigation feasibility study; NCDOT has allocated $48 million toward roadway modernization for the stretch in coming years.

The project arrives against a regional housing shortage that Helene intensified. A needs assessment commissioned by the Land of Sky Regional Council found that Buncombe, Madison, Henderson, and Transylvania counties must add 34,358 dwelling units over the next five years, with Asheville alone requiring 6,441 additional rental units. Older adults represent a concentrated portion of that gap: residents 55 and older make up roughly 20% of Buncombe County's population, yet affordable housing designed for their needs remains scarce. In 2021, the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners committed to supporting 1,500 to 1,850 new rental units for households earning below 80% AMI by 2030.

BCHF plans to manage the property after completion and will station social services staff on site to run programs covering financial literacy and health and wellness, drawing from a team of around 40 employees. Redwood Commons is one of two affordable projects taking shape in East Asheville: Star Point Apartments, a proposed 60-unit complex at 16 Restaurant Court on Tunnel Road, has also been submitted for consideration.

Because City Council's approval came in May 2022, the formal public comment window for Redwood Commons' rezoning has closed. Residents with concerns about ongoing grading activity, stormwater management, or construction permits during the build can track filings through the City of Asheville's development services portal or contact BCHF's Housing Division directly.