Lexington Avenue is a prominent street in

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. Located at the confluence of the French Broad River, French Broad and Swannanoa River, Swannanoa rivers, it is the county seat of Buncombe County. It is the most populou ...

, United States. Located between Rankin Avenue to the west and Broadway Street to the east, it runs for about from Broadway Street in the north to Southside Avenue in the south. Its addresses are split between "North Lexington Avenue" and "South Lexington Avenue", the transition occurring at Patton Avenue. After falling into neglect for many years, the street was revitalized in the 1970s after city officials offered to build a mall on a large, eleven-block plot of land; Asheville citizens voted against the idea, however. The Tyler Building, at 63 North Lexington Avenue (today occupied by DSSOLVR brewery), was built in the 1920s, during a construction boom that included the

Grove Arcade The Grove Arcade, also known as the Arcade Building, is a historic commercial and residential building in Asheville, North Carolina, in its downtown historic district. It was built from 1926 to 1929, and is a Tudor Revival and Late Gothic Revival ...

, Asheville City Building and the

Buncombe County Courthouse Buncombe County Courthouse is a historic courthouse building located at Asheville, Buncombe County, North Carolina. It was designed by architect Frank Pierce Milburn and built between 1924 and 1928. It is a 17-story, steel frame skyscraper she ...

. When Dssolvr opened in 2019, it preserved the building's 16-foot-tall wooden front doors. In 2003, the Asheville City Development Plan 2025 was implemented, encouraging higher densities, infill development and adaptive reuse. In addition, the City of Asheville Pedestrian Plan and the Urban Walking Trail (which includes stops on Lexington Avenue) were introduced, along with the Asheville Downtown Master Plan, in 2009, and a hybrid zoning code the following year. Today, the street is known for being the home of over two hundred small businesses, including specialty shops, restaurants and

brewpubs Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

. Annually on the Sunday of

Labor Day weekend Labor Day is a federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements in the United ...

, the Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF) takes place, while the free Downtown After 5 Summer Music Series is hosted by the Asheville Downtown Association, bringing visitors to the street every third Friday in the summer months.

Urban forest

Lexington Avenue's

urban forest Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of peop ...

has been named "one of America's great places" by the

American Planning Association The American Planning Association (APA) is a professional organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. APA was formed in 1978, when two separate professional planning organizations, the American Institute of Pla ...

. Friends of Lexington Avenue have been working to protect the forest against the planned construction of a new substation on the land by

Duke Energy Duke Energy Corporation is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company ranked as the 141st largest company in the United States in 2024 – its highest-ever placement on the ...

References

{{reflist Asheville, North Carolina Streets in North Carolina