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• Asheville considering building massive performing arts center on The Block (updated)

• Asheville needs anti-displacement guardrails in next year’s budget (report back)
• Buncombe County needs to adopt an anti-displacement policy
• Asheville needs to adopt an anti-displacement policy

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Our focus remains on plans for a performing arts center located on The Block. We also have a report back on our City budget call to action last week.

Updated item: Asheville considering building massive performing arts center on The Block

City Council will vote on March 24th whether to continue holding 2.4 acres of City-owned land downtown for a possible 3,500-seat performing arts center. The site is on Eagle Street (within The Block, Asheville’s historic Black business district), and therefore adjacent to neighborhoods and institutions that were deeply harmed by urban renewal. The City is working with a company called ATG Entertainment on a public/private partnership to develop the site.

Our stance: Before Council commits public land to this project, they need to commit that any negotiations with ATG Entertainment must include binding anti-displacement protections for East End/Valley Street and The Block.

Our call to action and email template is below. This week, we are sharing some additional analysis, a “Deeper Dive: What a Performing Arts Center Could Mean for East End and The Block.” There are two main sections: 1) If a Performing Arts Center is built, what will the impact be on East End/Valley Street and The Block over the next 5–10 years? 2) What would real anti-displacement protection cost — and can Asheville afford it?

Together, these analyses outline how property values could rise 20–40% in 5–10 years, pushing out long-time homeowners who could face tax pressure, and both residential and commercial tenants who could face higher rents.

If protections are not built into the project financing from the beginning, they are unlikely to happen later. Before Council votes to hold the land, they should make a clear public commitment: No deal without displacement protections.

Read the full deeper dive here, and find more information on the status of this issue in our GAP report below.

Report Back: Asheville needs anti-displacement guardrails in next year’s budget

Last week, City Council received an update on the budget process and opened public comment regarding the City’s projected $26 million structural budget gap for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. This week’s GAP report includes a report back on what was – and wasn’t – discussed at last week’s Council meeting. As our last GAP report explained, this issue is important because closing the budget gap will likely require property tax increases, fee increases, service reductions, or some combination. Those choices directly affect housing stability — especially for renters, seniors on fixed incomes, and working families. Without intentional anti-displacement safeguards, financial decisions made to balance the budget can unintentionally accelerate displacement.

For most of our history, GAPavl has focused on the full range of issues that come before City Council and County Commission, encouraging timely action on specific agenda items. We’re going to keep doing that whenever the need arises. But we also know that real political change requires a long-term perspective. It requires perseverance. It requires staying with an issue long after it stops being “new.”

As we see it, pushing Asheville and Buncombe County to commit to anti-displacement is of vital importance, which is why we’ve been emailing you about it for over a month now. We know it’s hard – for elected officials and for all of us – to maintain focus on an overarching policy change that will take time to develop and implement. We’re not entirely sure we have the perfect formula for doing that, but we are committed to trying, and encourage you to stay with us.