News

Judge OKs sale of Opp House for use as homeless help center

By Bill Moss, Published: December 6, 2023

The rebirth of the Opportunity House as a clearinghouse of services to help homeless people and those facing a mental health crisis is close to becoming a reality.

Chief Resident Superior Court Judge Peter Knight issued an order on Nov. 27 that approves most of the terms of a final dissolution of the Opportunity Group Inc., sale of the property to the city of Hendersonville and payment to attorneys, consultants and other creditors with claims against the defunct nonprofit.

The city has agreed to buy the property for $505,000 and keep an ownership interest of around 30 percent. The Connections Center plans to operate the facility along with partner agencies that include Pisgah Legal Services, Safelight, Thrive, the Hope Coalition, the Free Clinics, Manna Food Bank, Blue Ridge Health and others.

“We really do feel like this is a win-win for the community,” Rachel Ingram, the Connections Center’s executive director, told Judge Knight during a hearing on Oct. 25. “What we’re envisioning is a low-barrier communitywide access point. We’re looking at upwards of a dozen nonprofits who would have a physical presence inside of this building so people who are experiencing crisis or who are in some kind of need can go to one place and have their needs met and to do that with a very relationship-based individualized approach.”

Back taxes, attorney fees

In his Nov. 27 order, Judge Knight OK’d most creditors’ claims and placed conditions on others, including:

• Proceeds of the sale will cover outstanding property taxes from 2017 through 2022 of $152,742 due the city and county, provided the city waives 2023 property taxes. Knight requested that Henderson County also waive its property tax bill for this year but did not require it.
• The claim by ASG Strategies and consultant Graham Mew for $98,677 in fees would be paid only if ASG can “produce some evidence of an agreement” between the company and the Opportunity House.
• Knight authorized the agreed-upon sales commission to NAI Beverly-Hanks of $51,030. The amount was calculated as a 3 percent commission based on 90 percent of the list price $1.89 million, which was also the appraised fair-market value.

Knight also authorized these other payments:

• Roberts & Stevens, receiver John Noor and other law office personnel, $45,500.
• Ferikes, Bleynat & Cannon, attorney Edward Bleynat, an Asheville law firm retained by Opp House Executive Director Ken Rhoads, $27,692, provided the firm itemize its fees.
• United Federal Credit Union, Rhoads’s Visa card balance, $25,763, which Knight described as money “apparently loaned to the dissolving corporation.”
• Wimer Snider, attorney Jake Snider, Asheville lawyer retained by Rhoads, $20,028. Judge Knight authorized the payment on the condition Snider disclose whether he is related to Chuck Snider, a building contractor from Leicester who served on the Opportunity House board. Knight said he was allowing the disbursement even if the two are related but said it was appropriate that disclosure is made “in the instance there is a relationship.” Knight also required Snider to itemize the attorney fees he was claiming.
• Internal Revenue Service, past due 2017 and 2018 taxes, $10,976.
• Pye Barker, sprinkler system repair after pipes froze in the Christmas 2022 freeze, $5,266.
• ACE Appraisals, $4,200.

Foundation: Nonprofit serving community is ‘what we wanted’

The dissolution of the Opportunity House and transfer of its assets to the Connections Center comes more than five years after the Community Foundation of Henderson County filed a lawsuit asserting that the non-profit agency founded in the 1950s as a senior center offered no community services and was no longer a valid nonprofit organization. Henderson County's tax collector came to the same conclusion, revoking the Opp House's tax-exempt status back to 2017.

The court order authorized “what we wanted and what we support for the property and what we hoped for and we’re glad that’s going forward,” McCray Benson, the foundation’s president and CEO, said in an interview. He added that he would have preferred that the attorneys and others had discounted their fees for the good of the community.

“It does feel like there are a great many hands dipping into what could be a big step of the Connections Center,” which he said faces substantial renovation costs before it can launch services.

City Attorney Angela Beeker and City Manager John Connet confirmed the city’s support for the agreement during the hearing on Oct. 25.

“This is not a shelter,” Connet said. “People will not be housed at this location. This is an opportunity to provide services in a day environment — regular office hours.”

In addition to the $505,000 it has agreed to pay for the 19,000-square foot building, the city has set aside an American Rescue Plan money and other grant funding to support the Connections Center.