Ingles is taking the next step toward rebuilding its Swannanoa location.
On Wednesday, the Buncombe County Board of Adjustment granted the grocery giant a special use permit for the site, which was devastated by Hurricane Helene.
The permit allows Ingles to demolish a strip mall on the property where their store once stood and construct a new, 105,000-square-foot building that will house the supermarket and two additional tenants.
The site will also include a gas station and a car and truck wash. The existing supermarket building will be repurposed into a space for multiple tenants.
For months, the supermarket chain had been silent on whether it planned to rebuild the store, which has long played a crucial role in the community.
Preston Kendall, a construction project manager for Ingles, said the company always intended to rebuild but wanted to make sure it did so in the right way.
“We’ve never – since Helene – not wanted Ingles back in Swannanoa,” he said during Wednesday’s hearing. “We just had to make sure that we did everything correct and what was best for the community for years to come. And didn’t want to have a knee-jerk reaction about it.”
Kendall was born and raised in the Swannanoa area. He said the emotional toll of the devastation still hits hard a year after Helene.
“It’s hard to talk about, because I drive – I live in Candler, and I drive to Swannanoa two or three days a week,” he said. “And it’s still hard to drive and see the devastation.”
Kendall said most of the 140 people who worked at the store have been working at Ingles locations elsewhere in Buncombe County. Once the new store is completed, it is expected to have 200 to 220 employees. The gas station and truck wash will have an additional 50 to 60 employees, Kendall said.
The next step in the process includes obtaining permits from the North Carolina Department of Transportation and other government bodies. No date has been mentioned for the project’s expected completion.
