Richard Kessler and his team from The Kessler Collection have seen the inside of more than their share of board rooms.
So when the team gathered in Cashiers last week for a series of community stakeholder meetings to educate the public about changes being made to the Cashiers East Village project, which was approved for a special use permit in 2022, they were prepared to be peppered with questions.
As they have since the beginning of the development process associated with the 24.5-acre tract adjacent to the Cashiers crossroads, Kessler and his staff were upfront and transparent about their vision for the property.
Architect Christian Sottile explained every change to the original site plan, and noted that the new development would actually be smaller, have less environmental impact, and allow for more mature trees to be kept on the property. The buildings, including the lodge and “Cashiers Hall” public space, will be kept within the character of Cashiers and the complex will require just 270 parking spaces – compared to the originally approved 380.
By repositioning the 96-room lodge closer to NC107 and away from Monte Vista Road, the building will not be visible above the ridgeline and traffic through the property will be greatly diminished. There will also be less impact on the piece of the property that is protected by conservation easement.
Aside from the site plan changes, which will need to be approved by the Cashiers Planning Council, the bigger message lies in the transparency with which Kessler and his team have displayed since the project first became a topic of conversation in 2021.
The Kessler team didn’t have to amend the site plan to better fit the character of Cashiers after it was approved. They could have built the lodge right where it was originally positioned and not cared that it stuck out above the trees, but they didn’t. They made a change of their own volition to better fit into Cashiers’ landscape and then came to town to explain the change in great detail.
The Kessler Collection has promised that the East Village will add to Cashiers landscape, and they are taking practical steps to bring that vision to life.