Asheville Reporter

An affordable housing community that burned last week will be rebuilt, despite the suspicious nature of the fire that destroyed the apartments at 360 Hilliard Ave., within walking distance of downtown.

"The moment the fire department and the Asheville Police Department release the site to us, we're immediately going to start again," said Chip Kassinger in an interview with the Citizen Times. Kassinger is the founder of Kassinger Development Group (KDG), which is building the apartments. "We’re committed to the project. As devastating as this is, we're going to go forward."

The project will include 34 apartments, half of which are marked for affordable housing. Three of four floors were framed in, and it burned on June 19. The Asheville Fire Department called the fire “suspicious in nature."

Everything that was on site will be removed and replaced, including the concrete slab, which cracked in several places. Piping running through melted, but there was no electrical wiring, which mean that the fire was not caused by electrical issues. The work crews had been plumbing the building.

Sweetwater General Contractors is building the project, which is owned by KDG. The land was once a parks maintenance facility, which the City of Asheville sold in 2019. In return, KDG agreed to develop and maintain the 34 affordable units for the next 50 years.

Units in this property are in high demand, and it will be spring before the apartments will open, with the recent arson. In order to restart the project, KDG will have to rebid the contracts, and will lose rent, man hours and may find that construction costs go up, Kassinger said.

Perhaps worse, the individuals who are in need of affordable housing will have to wait even longer.

"We're obligated to keep exactly the same mix," Kassinger said. "That runs with the property in perpetuity."