Asheville Names Parkside Preferred Site for Downtown Performing Arts Center
The city identified the Parkside parcel — reported as 2.4–2.43 acres adjacent to Pack Square Park — as the preferred site for a 2,500-seat hall and a proposed more-than-300-space parking garage.
City staff presented to Asheville City Council on Feb. 24 that the Parkside property, reported as 2.4 acres by one account and 2.43 acres by another, adjacent to Pack Square Park on Marjorie Street and just south of City Hall, is the preferred downtown site for a proposed 2,500-seat performing arts center. Chris Corl, director of Community and Regional Facilities, led the work session presentation that named Parkside and outlined the project program and next steps.
The city is pursuing a development land hold on the Parkside parcel tied to a memorandum of understanding with ATG Entertainment that is reported to last through 2027, with one report specifying an expiration in June 2027. AvlToday reports the land-hold request will be on the City Council agenda at its Tuesday, March 24 meeting. Corl said the land hold “will strengthen the city’s application for US Economic Development Administration grants,” which the city is positioning as a major funding source.
The Parkside selection follows a public-private predevelopment partnership announced “back in August” with ATG Entertainment to begin predevelopment after consultants recommended a new build rather than pursuing $100+ million renovations to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. AvlToday notes ATG asked that walkability to hotels, retail and restaurants factor into site choice; Parkside sits just steps from The Block entertainment and dining district.
Council members raised immediate concerns about parking and neighborhood impact. “The Block already has parking issues,” City Council member Kim Roney said. “The project might put more stress on The Block,” a concern echoed by council members Antanette Mosley, Maggie Ullman and Bo Hess during the Feb. 24 work session.
Corl’s presentation listed program elements the Parkside plan would allow: “a more than 300-space parking garage, space for a public safety fire station, the 2,500 seat main performance hall, a rehearsal and education center, an entry plaza and foyer and retail and gallery space.” The city obtained the Parkside land between 2006 and 2007 and in 2008 City Council previously set the 2.4-acre site aside for a performing arts center under an $85 million concept; that 2008 resolution expired in 2013.
Corl also said a full community engagement plan is expected to begin in May. With four downtown sites considered before Parkside was chosen, the immediate decisions this spring — the March 24 land-hold hearing, the terms of the MOU with ATG and the start of community engagement in May — will shape whether Asheville can secure EDA funding and move the mixed-use performing arts plan into formal predevelopment.
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