ABCCM opens veterans housing community at former Asheville hotel

A former East Asheville hotel now anchors ABCCM’s push to keep veterans off the street, with some residents already moving into the 120-unit Veterans Village at 1430 Tunnel Road. The conversion of the former Quality Inn Asheville Downtown marks a major shift in how Buncombe County is responding to homelessness, PTSD and housing instability among veterans.

At the site, Army veteran Joseph Roden has gone from being a resident in crisis to working the front desk. Roden served in Iraq after enlisting in 2007 and said he lives with diagnosed PTSD and traumatic brain injury. ABCCM said the new community includes counseling, healthcare services, three meals a day and workforce employment and training opportunities, all under one roof in a veterans-only setting.

ABCCM Chief Operating Officer Brandon Wilson said the services are designed to meet the daily realities that push veterans into instability. Reverend Scott Rogers, ABCCM’s chief executive, called the purchase a “historical accomplishment” and said it was another step toward making sure no veteran has to be on the streets. Buncombe County Commission Chair Amanda Edwards also backed the project, while ABCCM said U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis’s office helped secure Community Program Funds for Veterans funding and Dogwood Health Trust provided a no-interest loan.

The hotel conversion also reflects ABCCM’s contingency planning after Hurricane Helene severely damaged its Veterans Restoration Quarters in September 2024. The new Tunnel Road site is meant to temporarily house veterans while the VRQ is rebuilt. ABCCM also plans to renovate the neighboring Zaxby’s property into a veterans community center serving both properties.

The scale of the need remains significant. Before Helene, ABCCM said the Veterans Restoration Quarters was one of the nation’s largest transitional facilities for homeless male veterans and served about 450 veterans annually. In September 2025, about 400 volunteers from The Home Depot Foundation, Appalachia Service Project and 365 Connect helped renovate Veterans Village, and reports at the time said the facility was housing about 130 veterans with plans to expand to nearly 200 units.

ABCCM’s new veterans village does more than repurpose a hotel. It tests whether a concentrated, service-rich housing model can reduce the number of veterans moving through Asheville’s shelters, streets and emergency systems. VA Asheville says veterans may become homeless or fall at risk because of financial hardship, unemployment, addiction, depression or a transition from jail, making permanent supportive housing a direct response to a problem still visible across Buncombe County.