Jun. 25—If you’ve been wondering about that big, new building under construction along Waynesville’s Russ Avenue, or what’s going up at the old gas station site on Pigeon Street — we’ve got some answers for you.
The Russ Avenue building beside Zaxby’s will be home to Aspen Dental. And along Pigeon Street — where a corner gas station on the way out of town toward Bethel was demolished — Villazon Plumbing is building a new headquarters.
Aspen Dental
An exact opening date for Aspen Dental is unknown, but the group is currently in the process of hiring staff, according to signage on the building. Aspen Dental currently has over 1,100 practices in 45 states, with the closest to Waynesville being in Asheville and Arden.
Charlotte-based Russ Avenue Realty bought the property for $750,000 last year. Records on file with the Waynesville Development Services Department show the total cost of the project to be around $1.5 million.
A former 6,838-square-foot building on the site housed a real estate company. The new right-of-way for the Russ Avenue widening project came up to the edge of the building, however, so it was razed.
“They tore it completely down,” Waynesville Senior Code Enforcement Official David Kelley said.
It has been replaced with the new 3,512-square-foot Aspen Dental building, placed further back on the lot.
“It’s a much smaller footprint,” Kelley said of the new building.
The project has involved three different contractors for the three different phases of the project. The first phase was demolishing the old two-story building that property records indicate was built in 1970. That phase cost $35,000 and was completed this past January.
The second phase included site preparation and the construction of a shell building. The contractor for the shell building handled the site work and exterior walls, but the interior was left unfinished for future tenants to design their space to accommodate their individual business needs.
“They just build the exterior walls and do the site work,” Kelley said. “Then a different company comes in and does the inside.”
Records show the shell building and site work cost around $950,000. That work was completed last month.
The final phase of the project is the interior buildout that comes with a price tag of almost $500,000. That work began earlier this month.
Specs of the project shows several exam rooms, two x-ray rooms and several offices and labs. There are also ample parking spaces for the site that is accessed from Waynesville Plaza.
Kelley said it is not unusual for projects like Aspen Dental to be done in multiple phases.
“Ingles did it in their strip mall,” Kelley said. “Whoever leased out that space, they hired their own contractors to meet their needs.”
Villazon Plumbing
Another major project in the construction phase is the relocation of Villazon Plumbing. The business is currently located near Lake Junaluska but is moving to Pigeon Street in Waynesville.
Records show that the over 12,000-square-foot project is costing around $1 million. The gas station that once occupied the site was torn down to the foundation and office space was built on that portion of the project.
The new building features a 5,800-square first floor along with a 5,200-square foot basement. Specs show four bays on the first floor and another accessing the basement.
“They are making a huge addition to the back,” Kelley said.
