News

Ask Matt ... about Lake Lure, Panera Bread, Grey Mill

Washburn Marina on Lake Lure has more than 200 boat slips.

By Matt Matteson, Published: July 19, 2020

Q. On a recent trip to Lake Lure I noticed they expanded the marina on U.S. 74. What do they charge for keeping a boat there?

Don’t own a cozy waterfront lot at Lake Summit? Not to worry. The Washburn Marina on Lake Lure is just an 18-mile drive from Hendersonville. Yes, they do rent boat slips to non-residents but locals have priority. You can snag one of the new marina slips for $1,500 a year — but you provide the boat. The marina, named for the Washburn family who were longtime stewards of the lake, has more than 200 boat slips and about 50 are still unassigned. The old wooden boardwalk that connected the marina and park to the beach has been replaced with a shiny metal walkway. “The upgrades were made with grants to the Town of Lake Lure that owns the marina,” said Town Manager Shannon Baldwin, a former Henderson County commissioner. “None of the money for the marina is coming from Lake Lure taxpayers.” The town also operates a hydroelectric power plant at the east end of the lake that was created in the mid-1920s.

Q. I read that GE opposed the asphalt plant proposed for Spartanburg Highway and said that they had worked hard to be environmentally compliant. Didn’t they once have some issues of their own?

True. In 1988 toxic chemicals were found on the GE site and in the groundwater. New waterlines were extended by the city of Hendersonville so residents could drink uncontaminated water. Eight years later GE and the EPA reached an agreement to clean up the “superfund” site plus another site in a nearby residential area that GE used to dispose of contaminated soil.

Q. Do you know when the new Panera Bread restaurant will open in Hendersonville? It looks ready to open.

Panera Bread officials said they may not open until the end of September at the earliest. The Hendersonville location is located on Coolridge Street visible from Four Seasons Boulevard. Construction began last fall and the building shell and parking lot are complete but the restaurant interior still needs work. The delay, of course, is due to Covid-19 plus the need to get staff hired and trained.

Q. Are the apartments in the old mill building on Fourth Avenue East all rented out yet?

“We’ve been steadily renting since the end of April,” said site manager Terry Osborn. “We have only six 1-bedroom and two 2-bedroom units left and all the studio apartments are taken.” The Grey Hosiery Mill building, once owned by the city of Hendersonville, contains 35 units. Monthly rents range from $975 to $1,399 with yearly leases. “Our units have a mixture of tenants,” said Osborn. “We have singles, couples, and even retirees and pets are allowed if they don’t exceed a total of 75 pounds.” Osborn said there are two main attractions to the apartments — a convenient location and the unique building history. The oldest part of the former hosiery mill was built in 1915.

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