Big boxes · North Carolina

Former Sears store at Asheville Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedRetrofit proposedAsheville, NC

Vacant Sears site in Asheville; proposed redevelopment stalled despite housing market activity in county. · summary, model-written

Ask who owns this Download dossier (PDF) · early access Download record (JSON) API Share LinkedIn Correct this record

Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.

Map view. No verified photo yet. Send one.

Site profile8 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Finance and pipeline

Retrofit in the pipeline

This site: …proposed record · all sites with this

Place

30,000+ vehicles a day on an adjacent road

This site: 80,082 on I-240 fhwa-hpms · all sites with this

County permitting 2,000+ apartment units a year

This site: 2,224 units, Buncombe County census-bps · all sites with this

Interstate or freeway within 600 m

This site: I-240 fhwa-hpms · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: …still sitting empty record · all sites with this

New use

Entertainment and sports

This site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Housing

This site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

Retail (continued)

This site: …new_use field newtypes-extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Retrofit proposedWikipedia no source
Strategy	Redevelopment, proposedWikipedia no source
New uses	entertainment, housing, retailWikipedia no source
What is there now	still sitting emptynewtypes-extraction reported

Site context

Housing permits, Buncombe County (NC), 2024	2,224 units in 5+ unit buildings, 10 in 2–4, 1,379 single-family; 2023: 1,199 in 5+Census BPS
Other atlas sites nearby	1 within 10 km, 1 within 25 km: Biltmore Square Mall (8.7 km)computed
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	17,293 jobs in 1,326 establishments; average annual pay $40,112; employment location quotient 1.30; employment +0.2% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	13,022 jobs; 962 in retail trade, 3,061 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 37021000100)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 38th income percentile as adults; 2.5% incarcerated at the 2010 count (24 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	not a low-access tract at 1 mile; poverty rate 25.2%; median family income $69,896; 188 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	Asheville City Schools (KG-12); 5 public schools within 1 mile: Claxton Elementary; Asheville Middle; Isaac Dickson Elementary; Montford North Star AcademyNCES EDGE
Elevation	2,219 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	100 county-logged events: 53 thunderstorm wind, 27 hail, 12 flash flood, 6 flood; $602,628,000 property damage reported; 38 direct deaths; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 28801, 2026-09	median list price $749,945 (-4.6% on the year); 126 active listings; median 74 days on market; 19% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	1,320 establishments (+17%); 19,291 jobs (+18%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $440,368 (-4% 1 yr, +16% 5 yr); typical rent $1,700/mo (+0% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	80,082 vehicles a day on I-240 (Interstate, 4 lanes); 2,131 trucks; 33 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

The former Sears store at Asheville Mall remains vacant despite being listed as 'proposed' for redevelopment. It has not been occupied since closing.

Why. The site is empty (after_notes: 'still sitting empty'), and the proposed new uses (entertainment, housing, retail) have not materialized. Housing market data shows active construction (1,379 single-unit permits in 2024) and a 6.8% county population growth (2018–2023), but no progress on this specific site.

Where it stands. No developer or timeline is specified. The site is within 8.7km of Biltmore Square Mall (status unknown).

For a planner

Vacancy status is current (not under construction or sold).
Housing demand is active in Buncombe County (per 2024 permits).
I-240 traffic (80,082 ADT) provides access.

For a developer

No active deals or approvals noted.
Housing market shows demand (ZHVI: $440k, down 4.4% YoY).
No information on land costs or existing permits for this site.

What we do not know yet

No timeline for redevelopment.
No developer identified.
Biltmore Square Mall status unknown (may affect competition).

Generated by qwen3-30b-a3b-64k:latest on Dell 5820 RTX 3090 (Ollama, qwen3-30b-a3b) from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Research Triangle Park, Raleigh-Durham, NC · Office parks · same strategy: redevelop; also in NC
Carolina Shores Golf Course and Country Club, Carolina Shores, NC · Golf courses · same strategy: redevelop; also in NC
Former Carolina Shores Golf & Country Club, Carolina Shores, NC · Golf courses · same strategy: redevelop; also in NC
Midtown Square Mall, Charlotte, NC · Malls · same strategy: redevelop; also in NC

Elsewhere on the web

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

already in play: under construction, approved, or sold to a developer with housing plans
county grew 6.8% 2018–23
housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

County	Buncombe County
Census division	5 · South Atlantic
Notes	Draft from wlos.com, model-extracted, unreviewed: The former Sears store at Asheville Mall was proposed for a mixed-use development with housing, retail, and entertainment but remains empty as plans fell through.

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, year opened, original developer, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Sources

What happened to plans for a mixed-use development at former ...
1 quoted sentence
former Sears store at Asheville Mall

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Former Sears store at Asheville Mall, Asheville, NC." Record n-9aff49fd4a, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/big-box/nc/asheville-former-sears-store-at-asheville-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-21).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_ashevilleformersearsstoreatashevillemall,
  title = {Former Sears store at Asheville Mall, Asheville, NC},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/big-box/nc/asheville-former-sears-store-at-asheville-mall/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record n-9aff49fd4a, release 2026-10-21, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-21}
}

How to cite, versioning

Link back

Paste on a project page: <a href="https://retrofitatlas.org/big-box/nc/asheville-former-sears-store-at-asheville-mall/">Former Sears store at Asheville Mall on Retrofit Atlas</a>