Ramada Inn proposal changes: Less dedicated housing for homeless, now affordable units

ASHEVILLE - Hurtling toward an Oct. 1 closing date with the owner of the former Ramada Inn, Los Angeles-based developer Friendship for Affordable Housing, which brought a new proposal for the property this summer, has reconfigured the project to just 50 units of permanent supportive housing — specifically for veterans through the HUD-VASH program.

The other 50 former hotel rooms would be designated as affordable housing for people earning at or below 50% of the area median income. That's an annual income of $32,700 for one person in the Asheville metro area, per the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Though plagued by delays, a land foreclosure and the shift to a new lead developer, since December 2021 the basic plan for the former Ramada Inn in East Asheville has remained largely the same: 113 units of permanent supportive housing for the homeless.

But now that's changed.

The property, at 148 River Ford Parkway, is even deed restricted for that purpose, specifying any future development must include 100 units of permanent supportive housing — a model that targets chronically homeless individuals, offering long-term housing with wraparound services.

The new proposal is a loss of the 50 units that would have targeted the city's general chronically homeless population, with supportive services for those beds provided through a contract with Homeward Bound. To fund those wraparound services for four years, the developer had planned to request $1.5 million from the city — money once promised to the project when it was in the hands of Shangri-La before they lost the property to foreclosure.

Why the change?

Concerns around the original proposal from the area Continuum of Care — whose funding committee did not recommend approval, though the board narrowly did in August — feedback from the city's Housing and Community Development committee and input from the community, prompted a project overhaul.

The new proposal was heard by the CoC Sept. 12. Despite some disappointment, the board ultimately recommended the new iteration. It would require Asheville City Council to modify the property's deed restriction.

Purchase and renovation of the project would be funded by an estimated $18 million in Friendship's private capital. The project is also contingent on confirmation of project-based vouchers for the proposed affordable housing from the Asheville housing authority.

The proposal will move next to the Housing and Community Development committee Sept. 17, and then on to City Council Sept. 24 for final action.

"If you all say yes, I'm going to support this reiteration of this project, but with deep disappointment," said Mayor Esther Manheimer, who sits on the CoC board as as nonvoting member. "I don't think it moves the needle enough for our community, and I think it's a lost opportunity I'm not sure we can make up."

Jenny Moffatt, permanent supportive housing director with Homeward Bound, also a board member, said while she, too, would support the project, there was a similar disappointment.

"I do think it's important, also, that our board understands that beds for (permanent supportive housing) do not come up frequently. When Homeward Bound opened Compass Point Village, with 85 units, that was almost a six-year endeavor for us to come up with the funding and the resources for those 85 beds," she said.

"So to lose these 50 beds means that we're going to need put our heads together to think through how else we can serve this chronically homeless population because these are the folks in our community who are the most seen ... who are flying signs regularly, who are suffering the most from being outside in the elements, who are likely to not be going to any of the shelters that are currently open ... we will have a challenge for the board moving forward."

Who is Friendship for Affordable Housing?

Friendship first presented its 77-page pitch to the CoC board in June. Complicating some of the conversations around the proposal was the long shadow of Shangri-La, also a Los Angeles based developer. Several of Shangri-La's former employees are now working for Friendship. On Friendship's leadership team is Ayahlushim Getachew, a former president and co-owner of Shangri-La Construction, a subsidiary of Shangri-La Industries, who was with the company for three years, until 2019, the Citizen Times reported previously.

Getachew addressed the board virtually Sept. 12, fielding questions about the reconfigured project.

"Fundamentally, we think this is an appropriate response to the loads and loads of community feedback that we got, that talked about their issues of concern and how to ameliorate that, and so this is what we think is probably a better solution," she said.

Moving this iteration of the project forward would free up the city's $1.5 million to be redirected elsewhere.

If Friendship closes on the property in October, it anticipates occupancy in December 2025. If not approved, Friendship will invest in development elsewhere, said a city staff report. The fate of the Ramada property, owned by lender Stormfield Capital, would be unknown.

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Sarah Honosky is the city government reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. News Tips? Email [email protected] or message on X, formerly Twitter, at @slhonosky. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: East Asheville's former Ramada Inn could become affordable housing