The Arras, a.k.a. The Arras Residences, a.k.a. Kimpton Hotel Arras, is by far the biggest building in Asheville.
It’s 19 stories and over 200,000 square feet.
It stands 228 feet above Pack Square, which is the epicenter of downtown Asheville.
It’s the perfect location.
The hotel lobby is swanky with two restaurants — Bargello and District 42.
https://bargelloavl.com/
https://district42avl.com/
Urban Exhale Massage is located on the 3rd floor near the gym/fitness center.
There are 128 hotel rooms operating on floors 2 through 9.
Floors 10-19 contain 54 private luxury condos in downtown Asheville.
Originally built as the Northwestern Bank Building in 1965, the property changed hands in 1988 for $6.8 million and then again in late 2013 to the McKibbon Group for $7.5 million 💸
From Office Space to Luxury Condos
I moved to Asheville at the end of 2013 for a software engineering job, and worked downtown in the Historic Adler Building which is adjacent to The Arras.
At the time, everyone called it the BB&T Building. Locals referred to it as “Big Brown & Tall”, which I can understand if most of your interactions with the building were from afar.
I walked by the BB&T Building several times per week for years and while it never made my list of top ten best buildings in downtown Asheville — compared to the I.M. Pei building across the street, a.k.a. The Biltmore Building — at least from close range, it was doin’ just fine.
Can’t deny it though, the more you zoomed out, the worse it got. Looked like 400 brown paper bags stitched together against the Asheville skyline.
Most everyone I’ve spoken to tends to agree the old exterior didn’t vibe with Asheville’s aesthetic. In fact, in the 2016 film Masterminds starring Owen Wilson, Zack Galifinakis, Kate McKinnon, and Jason Sudeikis, the entrance of the building was used as the scene of a 1997 bank robbery taking place in Charlotte. Nuff said.
Most everyone I’ve spoken to agrees that the McKibbon Group knocked it out the park on this one. I’m a big fan of the Art Deco revamp, well done 👏, hat tip 🎩
Sidebar — I’ve also warmed up to the I.M. Pei building (I’ve had a lot of time). I think of it as a mix between a terrestrial cruise ship and a correctional facility. Another sidebar — I.M. Pei seems like he had an interesting life, and he lived to be 102.
I have an old video from when The Arras building was under construction that I’ll add to this post a little later. I bet you can spot the terrestrial cruise ship. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.
Arras Condo Valuations
Back to the real estate stuff.
Over the life of the project these condos have sold for an average of $674 per square foot.
Over the last two years this average has climbed to around $760 per square foot. If you want to see the FULL spreadsheet I keep with all the sales data, feel free to send me a text message and I’ll share the link.
Here’s a preview:
What’s up with the condos on the 10th floor?
The condos on the 10th floor of The Arras building are different from the others and we’ll cover that a little farther down the page. It’s the 13th floor that nobody wants to talk about or even acknowledge that it exists. Not just at Arras, but in buildings all over the world.
According to a 2007 Gallup Poll, 13% of Americans said they would feel uncomfortable staying on the 13th floor and would request to change rooms. This is something real estate developers and hoteliers have acknowledged many times in interviews over the years — and the general consensus is — why make such a large percentage of people uncomfortable?
Before we get to the 10th floor here’s a quick breakdown of the other condos in the Arras building:
- Floors 11, 12, and 14 each have 7 condos.
- Floors 15, 16, and 17 each have 5 condos.
- The 18th floor has 8 condos, 6 of which are two stories. Of those 6, only 3 have grand two-story open ceilings, and of those 3 — only one has a cool looking curved staircase.
OK HERE’S THE THING ABOUT THE 10TH FLOOR — condo units on the 10th floor of Arras are the only units permitted to be used as short term rentals! It’s also the floor with the most condos on a single level. What’s the difference between a short term rental and a hotel room? In practice, not much.
You can book these 10 special condos at https://www.arrasvacationrentals.com/. To be clear, you’re not booking a regular hotel room when you stay on the 10th floor. You’re staying at someone’s private residence that’s being rented as a vacation rental.
And to be even clearer when you buy a condo on the 14th floor, you’re actually buying a condo on the 13th floor, so if that freaks you out, don’t do it. I’m kidding of course. There’s nothing wrong with the 14th floor in this building or any other condo building in America!
As of this writing 6 out of 10 vacation rental units allow pets, so feel free to bring your dog with you if he enjoys 10 floor elevator rides whenever he needs go outside. The elevator that services the private condos is … well … private and separate from the hotel.
According to property records, the developer, Mr. McKibbon held onto a couple of these cash flowing 10th floor units, smart move.
The management company that handles the 10th floor operations, Arras Management, LLC, uses vacation rental software known as LiveRez, less smart move. I have personal experience with LiveRez, and while it had its day in the sun, there are better options nowadays. But hey, at least they aren’t rocking an on-premise install of RDP, that’s actually the worst.
If you want to see a floor plan or anything that might be included in the original condominium plan or declaration, reach out and I’ll share the links.
