GBX Group Buys Storm-Damaged Riverview Station in River Arts District, Plans Rehabilitation

Riverview Station, the large historic tannery complex at 191 Lyman Street in Asheville’s River Arts District that houses artist studios and galleries and was severely damaged by Tropical Storm Helene, has been acquired by GBX Group LLC, the company said in a Feb 23, 2026 press release. The release states, “ASHEVILLE, NC – GBX Group LLC is pleased to announce the acquisition of Riverview Station at 191 Lyman Street in Asheville’s River Arts District, reinforcing its commitment to the district’s ongoing recovery and reactivation following Hurricane Helene.”

Longtime owners Helaine Greene and Trudy Gould sold two of the buildings that comprise Riverview Station in a transaction described as having taken place “In November.” “In November, two buildings that comprise Riverview Station were sold by longtime owners Helaine Greene and Trudy Gould to the Ohio-based GBX Group, which has announced its plans to rebuild and bring artists back to the building,” reads the available account of the sale. GBX’s public announcement came on Feb 23, 2026; materials provided with the announcement frame the acquisition as part of a recovery effort for the district.

The buildings carry deep local history and repeated cycles of damage and renewal. “Historic tannery buildings that survived major floods, fires and the shifting economy of American leather production might again have new life supporting the Asheville-based artists who revived them over the last 30 years,” a local report notes. That history intersected with recent devastation when the French Broad River “crested at nearly 25 feet during the storm,” causing the severe damage GBX now cites as the reason for reactivation work.

Details in the public materials reflect small but notable discrepancies: the transaction is described as an “In November” sale in one account while GBX’s corporate newsroom published the acquisition on Feb 23, 2026; GBX is described both as “Ohio-based” and as “Cleveland-based” in contemporaneous corporate items. The company’s Feb 2026 communications also highlighted other purchases, including a Feb 19, 2026 announcement of the acquisition of the historic Litterer Laboratory at 631 President Ronald Reagan Way in Nashville and a Feb 26, 2026 TRM release noting that a Jan 30 closing completed a partnership acquisition of Trailhead Lodge Rocky Mountains and The Outpost Rocky Mountains in Estes Park, Colorado with Storie Co.

Key economic and operational details remain undisclosed in the materials provided: no sale price or financial terms were included in the Feb 23, 2026 GBX release or in the available local account, and the press materials do not lay out a timeline, contractor names, or whether artists have a formal right of return. The absence of a disclosed sale price leaves short-term impacts on property tax revenue and valuation unclear, while the lack of a published restoration timeline means planning, permitting and floodplain requirements will determine when studios and galleries can reopen.

GBX’s statement framing the purchase as “reinforcing its commitment to the district’s ongoing recovery and reactivation following Hurricane Helene” signals an investor-led phase in the River Arts District’s rebuilding. Local artists, district leaders and city permitting authorities will be watching permit filings, structural assessments and any stabilization work at 191 Lyman Street to judge how quickly the complex might again host studios and galleries.