Can the City alone sell the Pack Square lot proposed for a Grove Park Inn high-rise?
It’s not clear. City Attorney Bob Oast recently told the Mountain Xpress that a 10- to 15-foot strip along the south boundary of the lot (bounded by College Street, Patton Avenue and Spruce Street) may actually belong to Buncombe County. • Are there better proposals for Pack Square than the Grove Park Inn construction project? We don’t know. A “call for proposals” has never been issued. The GPI plan was prepared in secret and presented to a surprised City Council, complete with a 16-page “development agreement” drafted by city staff and GPI attorneys. Moreover, the GPI proposal was first made public on March 25, just after the invasion of Iraq had begun, so it received little public notice. • Just how “local” is the Grove Park Inn? The city’s website states: “We are fortunate to have the Grove Park Inn, one of our key local institutions, undertake this effort.” The website also lauds the GPI’s “sensitivity to local concerns about the importance of good urban design.” The Grove Park Inn
