The Arras
tallest building in Asheville, North Carolina. Built in 1965
The Arras ( ARR-əs) is the second tallest building in Asheville, North Carolina with 19 stories and 201,000 square feet. It was built in 1965 as the Northwestern Bank Building and was later called the BB&T Building. In 2019, it reopened as the Art Deco style Kimpton Hotel Arras on floors 1 to 9, and Arras Private Residences condominium complex on floors 10-19 after a major renovation. The building is 228 feet tall.
History
Office tower
Groundbreaking took place in February 1964, with hundreds of people witnessing the start of one of the city's few major projects since the Great Depression. The Northwestern Bank Building opened October 23, 1965 as the state's tallest building west of Charlotte. A newspaper account referred to the "anodized aluminum curtain wall" and called it "unique and aesthetically pleasing", and the building was considered a "construction milestone." Built like many skyscrapers of the time, the Northwestern Bank Building resembled the Seagram Building in New York City and IBM Plaza in Chicago, both designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. A 2017 Asheville Citizen-Times article said "the opening of such a modern, imposing edifice was a source of pride for many in Asheville." On the other hand, an entire block had to be torn down, including the eight-story Langren Hotel built in 1912 and five other buildings. Glenn Wilcox Sr.'s Wilcox Travel and World Tours was an original tenant and remained in the building for 51 years. The City Club occupied the 16th floor.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Arras” as tallest building in Asheville, North Carolina. Built in 1965. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as tallest building in Asheville, North Carolina. Built in 1965. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q56274029. Authority coordinates are 35.595, -82.552. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1965, 2019, 1964 and 2017.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “The Arras”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow The Arras primary sources, The Arras archive and Arras research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Arras”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “The Arras” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.