PROJECTS
Current & recent projects include:

 

WEST ASHEVILLE / HAYWOOD ROAD REDEVELOPMENT

West Asheville has been EcoInvest's "home territory", mostly due to the majority of it's real estate holdings and business ventures being based and birthed from this physical location -- primarily on or near Haywood Road. The area has a rich history, and is just beginning to see a revitalization effort being extended by new investors and older residents alike. Existing businesses which have been here for years, along with new ones just beginning to take root are mixed together in an area which has been home to more residents of Asheville than any other "neighborhood" North, East or South.

While redeveloping the entire strip of Haywood Road would be far beyond the scope or goal of this company, there are two significant buildings which were bought to initiate this effort. While they have yet to be "finished" and put to their highest and best use, much work has gone into promoting the alternative and sustainable use of these and other properties along Haywood Road.Thanks to a number of different groups working hard towards changing the tarnished image West Asheville has endured in recent years, during 2001 it appears the effort is paying off.

 

'The Fortune Building' – A Community Arts & Education Center
Located in a 10,000+ sq. ft commercial building on Haywood Road in West Asheville, the "Fortune Building", (affectionately re-named for a previous long-term owner-occupied tenant of over 50 years, Fortune’s Hardware) has housed a variety of small business startups and non-profit community groups. The Asheville School of Massage, the Asheville ReSource Center (ARC), the SouthEast Network for Intentional Communities (SENIC), LL's Magnetic Clay, and Delphi Development are but a few of the businesses who have benefitted from the use of the upstairs offices.

Additional small community-minded businesses and educational groups use the building on a short and long term basis. Current tenants include professionals involved in holistic health care, computer sales, interior design, publishing and education who seek to enhance Asheville’s quality of life in one way or another. Short and long term rooms are for rent upstairs, performing arts and lecture space is being offered on the main floor, while the basement holds future expansion potential. The building is currently undergoing construction refinancing and completion for a final "opening".


The Ideal Beverage Company & Cafe

Also located in West Asheville on Haywood Road, across the street from the Fortune Building in the historically charming old Ideal Drug Store, the [new] Ideal seeks to recreate this once thriving community meeting place and source for pharmaceuticals into a more modern alternative medicinal theme. A 2400 sq. ft. building with ample free parking behind, the space comes complete with an existing soda fountain to complement the newer juicing equipment purchased.

Through the sale and preparation of organic foods, beverage, herbs, vitamins, homeopathics, essential oils, body care products, etc., The Ideal seeks to offer a walkable solution for those westsiders seeking an alternative to other locations, while creating a unique wholesale and retail food establishment in Asheville.

Currently awaiting proper funding sources to better proceed with this project, The Ideal remains just that at the moment... awaiting your help to make it real.

Asheville ReSource
Its first and most complex client, the ReSource was a combination of non-profit group and business interwoven as one. The ReSource Center sprang to life as an extension of the ReSource Newspaper, a local publication serving Asheville’s ‘conscious reader’, containing a variety of alternative event listings, articles, advertising, and WNC’s largest published Holistic Directory. The ReSource became a vehicle for promoting the large, ever-increasing and vital holistic segment of the city. Seeking a home to properly staff and grow not only the newspaper but a community center around it, ARC proposed to EcoInvest the idea of a start-up loan including use of 727 Haywood Road. A visitor/welcome center (a revitalizing of the ‘Chamber of Consciousness’) was created providing information on alternative, ecological and community based businesses in Western NC. The SouthEast Network for Intentional Communities was also formed, and supports the larger vision of it’s founder to someday create a unique eco-village here in Asheville. ARC also sponsored 4 Holistic Health Expos --the last two which were held downtown at the Civic Center (most recently renamed "Natural Living Expo" in Nov.'00).

EcoDesigns
While the original incentive for this company was to create a "green building center" in Asheville, a small number of simple and tasteful table designs were made from recycled materials to promote the concept of building furniture and/or homes from raw materials which are not destroying the environment, but helping promote its sustainable use and reuse. Somewhat on hold, this company hopes to reinvent itself out of the Fortune building in the near future. If you build in such a manner, are seeking someone who does, or have an interest in creating such a center to promote these practices, please call for more information.

SearchRing.com
One of the earlier and larger undertakings EcoInvest supported was the creation of a large scale internet-based information site. Still under construction and reformation, SearchRing hopes to bring to market a more efficient way to navigate the vast amounts of information being directed at cyber-space. This idea is as complex as the funding and promotional needs to back it up. Stay tuned for future updates and web addresses to surf.

 

Additional Projects Include:

Additional short and long term loans and housing have been extended to clients in real estate development, publishing, communications, software and internet design, events promotion, and furniture/craft design. Please call 828/236-9090 for more information or to meet with us to discuss the above in more detail.