History

Local Investors Hope for Continued Success Recycling Closed Factories

In 1995, three Asheville investors, Bill Goacher, David Moore and Jay Stewart, bought the 400,000 SF former Burlington Industries factory along Riverside Drive in Woodfin, and spent the next several years converting it to Riverside Business Park. In the proces

s they recycled a complex that had stood vacant for five years and resembled an industrial ghost town, turning it into a bustling beehive of activity- now home to more than 30 different businesses. By offering quality space at a competitive price and maintaining an appealing exterior and interior environment, they have been able to attract and, more importantly, retain many of their original tenants. "We are able to offer our tenants a flexible amount of space at a rate they can afford, in a work-friendly environment where they are surrounded by other dynamic individuals. That makes my job considerably easier," said Jay Stewart, partner in charge of leasing.

Now the trio has recently completed the purchase of the former Drexel Manufacturing facility in Black Mountain, which closed its doors in 2000, another victim of offshore competition. The partners hope to duplicate

their formula for success in the new location, which will be called Eastside Business Park. Their present venture has several existing buildings totaling over 180,000 SF on nearly 24 acres between US 70 and Old Highway 70 just inside the Black Mountain town limits. "There is a considerable amount of work involved in converting a single user factory into a multi-tenant business park and it requires a great deal of persistence, expertise and capital," according to Bill Goacher, whose primary responsibility is to oversee the renovations and ongoing maintenance of the buildings.

"We seem to have found a niche in the market, we are able to convert empty factory buildings which would otherwise sit vacant and deteriorate into viable space for many different kinds of tenants, a private sector business incubator of sorts," added David Moore who is in charge of financial operations for the group. All three partners insist that the conversion would be more than any one of them would be willing to tackle individually, and that it is largely the synergy of their partnership that accounts for their success to date.