Asheville City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve conditional zoning changes clearing the way for a Costco warehouse in the Enka area, ending years of stalled negotiations over roads and site plans. Costco officials say the store could open as early as spring 2028, though the company is still waiting on state transportation reviews before construction can begin.
A Years-Long Push Finally Gets a Green Light
The council's unanimous approval, confirmed by 828newsnow.com, caps a planning process that had dragged on for nearly two years, according to WLOS. City records describe the action as a resolution amending the site plan and project conditions for properties at 264 and 274 Enka Heritage Parkway and 1455 Sand Hill Road, effectively updating zoning to allow the new development, per the City of Asheville. As Retail Customer Experience reported, the Asheville Planning and Zoning Commission had already recommended approval of Costco's resubmitted application before the matter reached the full council.
The vote followed the planning commission's own unanimous recommendation on October 7, which came after the developer resubmitted its conditional rezoning request, the same 828newsnow.com report notes. Costco representatives have said the company has been searching for an Asheville site for more than 20 years, according to the station's separate coverage of the zoning process.
What's Actually Being Built
The project would reshape nearly 40 acres at Enka Commerce Park near Enka Heritage Parkway, Sand Hill Road and Jacob Holm Way, per WLOS. Reported figures for the warehouse itself have varied across plan versions — 828newsnow.com cited a 168,258-square-foot warehouse in its coverage, while WLOS described the retail space as more than 160,000 square feet. Either way, the store would include a 32-pump gas station and a tire center, facts confirmed by both outlets' reporting.
Parking totals have likewise shifted between reports. 828newsnow.com cited a fuel station with 914 parking spaces in one account, while conditional zoning for the project allows up to 950 spaces; Retail Customer Experience's earlier reporting put the figure at more than 800 spaces. The project also includes a 10-foot-wide multiuse path running through the site, according to 828newsnow.com's reporting on the zoning vote.
The site itself carries some industrial history: it's classified as a brownfield, sitting on part of the former American Enka industrial complex, the station reports. Costco has said the store would employ 225 to 250 people initially, with the workforce potentially growing to 400 or more as the business matures.
Traffic Concerns That Sank the First Attempt
This is not Costco's first try at Enka. An earlier application was withdrawn amid disagreements involving roadway improvements and the transportation review process, according to 828newsnow.com's reporting on the traffic study. Those traffic concerns were central to the original plan's collapse, a point Retail Customer Experience also flagged in its coverage of the stalled proposal.
The numbers at the heart of that fight have moved since then. The current traffic study estimates the development could generate more than 12,000 vehicle trips a day, down from an earlier NCDOT estimate that pegged a new Costco's daily traffic impact at 16,000 vehicles, per 828newsnow.com. The lower projection reflects a scaled-back plan: the developer removed two proposed commercial outparcels, which cut into the expected trip count, the outlet reports.
The dispute over traffic analysis drew scrutiny even before the new numbers emerged. Asheville Watchdog reported that the North Carolina Department of Transportation said it had worked with developers on 68 other traffic-impact analyses over the prior three years, negotiating with each one — context the agency offered after Costco's earlier application fell apart without, NCDOT said, any real discussion of the traffic study at the time.
What Still Has to Happen Before Shovels Hit Dirt
Zoning approval is not the same as a green light to build. NCDOT is still reviewing the project's traffic impact analysis, and required road improvements will need to be completed before the store can open, according to 828newsnow.com's reporting on the council vote. Costco officials have floated spring 2028 as a possible opening, but that timeline depends on the outstanding state review and construction still to come.
For a region that's watched this project stall and restart for roughly two years, Tuesday's unanimous council vote marks the clearest sign yet that an Asheville-area Costco is finally moving from renderings toward reality — even if the exact footprint, parking count and opening date remain subject to change as the project works through its final approvals.
