ASHEVILLE, NC—North Carolina’s second-highest court ruled this week in favor of the developers who proposed a 185-room Embassy Suites hotel downtown, saying the city had not made a case to stop the development, according to The Asheville Citizen-Times.
In January, the City of Asheville asked an appeals court to block construction of the hotel project after residents lodged complaints.
In a 30-page filing on Tuesday, the three-judge North Carolina Court of Appeals argued Parks Hospitality Group of Raleigh, NC, is entitled to a conditional use permit for its planned hotel at 192 Haywood St. at the site of the former Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, according to the report. The project was valued at $24 million in 2016.
The city council voted down the project in January 2017, citing concerns of parking, traffic and a high concentration of hotels near the proposed site, according to the report.
Developer Shaunak Patel appealed the council’s decision to Buncombe County Superior Court, which ruled in his favor. The city appealed that decision to the Court of Appeals.