The Grove Arcade

Asheville, North Carolina

MERITS

Historic Tax Credit Project

NC Honor Award AIA North Carolina - 2003

Pinnacle Award Carolinas AGC - 2003

Merit Award AIA Asheville - 2004

HISTORIC PRESERVATION / MARKET RATE HOUSING / COMMERCIAL

An exceptional example of Gothic Revival architecture, the Grove Arcade began construction in 1927 as a shopping arcade with a 17-story office tower above. When the Depression started in 1929, construction of the tower stopped at the fifth floor.

From the time of its opening until World War II, the arcade was the center of social and commercial life in Asheville. In 1942, the Federal Government took the building over as part of the war effort, and it later housed federal offices and the National Climatic Data Center.

In 2001 Rowhouse Architects was hired for the building’s renovation, which returned it to its original function as a mixed-use arcade. Shops and restaurants were built on the ground level, upper floors contain both office space and residential apartments.

The project was completed in the fall of 2003 with a construction cost of approximately $25,000,000.