ASHEVILLE, NC - Asheville native and 12 Bones Smokehouse co-owner Bryan King confirmed he would not be reopening the restaurant's original location in the River Arts District following the damage of Hurricane Helene six months ago.

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"Once we got into January, we started looking at things," said King. "That was, I think, really the point where we were like, 'okay, we're not going to reopen the [River Arts District location]. We had already paid off the loan down there. You know, we don't own the building. We didn't feel like taking on another half a million dollars to build out that location again."

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The King's decision leaves a major vacancy in the area, which had built an economic and cultural reputation through fostering a friendly business environment to restaurants, bars and breweries that opened locations out of the neighborhood's repurposed industrial buildings left behind from Asheville's age of industry before the Great Depression.

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Over the course of a decade, starting in the 1980s, River Arts became a thriving artistic and recreational neighborhood that the city of Asheville had invested heavily in. By the 2010s, the River Arts greenway, a bike path and walkway that spans the length of the area was completed and brought both locals and tourists to the region.

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"I think it sort of embodies Asheville in a lot of ways. It's artistic, you know, you see a lot of graffiti down there. It's rustic," said King. "it's just an eclectic part of town. It's got a lot of character, which I think you, the unfortunate side of the storm is that it's character that you're not going to be able to replace because they're old buildings."

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The River Arts District faced the brunt of damage inflicted by Hurricane Helene in the region in September 2024. Located directly off the French Broad River, which overflowed to a historic 24.67 feet. Many of its historic repurposed buildings were washed away, leaving behind nothing but debris.

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King says that any business owner looking to move back into the River Arts District will be facing major challenges with the prospect of another storm looming over the area. 

 

"Any business that wants to reopen down there, they've got alot ahead of them to make that happen," said King. "You know, it's a shame because the River Arts is our original home. We had no intention of leaving there. We wanted to be down there (...) But, you know, you got to make hard decisions. And unfortunately, it just doesn't make sense for us to try to try to make it happen given what has transpired."

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12 Bones Smokehouse will be celebrating its 20th anniversary recuperating from the trauma of the storm, making up for the lost economic and social development that their location in the River Arts District gave them. But Bryan King has hope for the neighborhood, and the city of Asheville.

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​"Asheville is a resilient community. I think that it was certainly heartwarming to see people coming together and helping each other in the months that followed the storm," he said. "There's certainly a reason to come to the area and visit. We certainly could use everyone's dollars and patronage. So hopefully folks will will do that this spring, summer, you know, and beyond."