The Radical

Asheville, North Carolina

MERITS

Historic Tax Credit Project

2024 Griffin Award for Adaptive Reuse (link to award video)

Best Hospitality Project | Business NC Magazine 2024

HISTORIC PRESERVATION / ADAPTIVE RE-USE / COMMERCIAL

Built in the 1920s, the five-story building had been everything from a breakfast cereal factory to a distribution hub for wholesale grocers to abandoned before opening in October 2023 as the Radical Hotel, a 70-room boutique hospitality space in Asheville’s River Arts District. The “RAD” was designed to fit the vibe of the River Arts District, home to numerous art studios, bars, restaurants, music venues and breweries.

The Radical has been described as a “love letter to the city’s creative spirit.”   
 
The updated building boasts towering concrete pillars, exposed brick walls and original street art. Those graffitied walls are now complemented with a curated collection of 200 works of contemporary art. Guest rooms are adorned with murals and custom-made furniture. Interior work was done by New York-based Suomi Design Works and Portland, Maine-based Might & Main, and “inspired by 1970s fashionistas and 1980s Berlin, with a dash of punk, a sprinkle of disco and a penchant for antiquing.” The property’s tax value increased from $2.7 million in 2021 to almost $11.7 million in 2024, according to Buncombe County tax records.

Completed Fall of 2023 with a cost of $44.6 million