It’s not very often that you see a 224-foot crane sitting next to you while you’re waiting at a stoplight. However, if you drive or ride the Appalcart into downtown Boone you are sure to have spotted the machine that is located on the construction site between Blowing Rock Road and Faculty Street.
The crane, which is capable of lifting up to 300 tons of material, is being used to construct a new building for Landmark Properties, according to an article published by High Country Press last Friday.
“It’s supposed to be a mixed use building. Commercial on the bottom, apartment of the top and a set of apartments on Faculty Street,” Boone Planning and Inspections Department Administrative Support specialist Brenda Henson said.
The new project will be called The Standard of Boone and in addition to the Apartments and retail space the building will include amenities for residents like a swimming pool and exercise facilities, according to the property developer’s website.
These apartments will be located on the upper level of the complex and consist of 560 beds, fully furnished rooms.
“There will be parking deck in there somewhere,” Henson said.
The site used to house the Red Carpet Inn and the now long defunct Scottish Inn.
Once all construction is complete, the total cost is estimated to be around $42 million dollars.
According to the developer’s website the project should be complete Fall 2016.
Story by Samuel Ingles, Intern News Reporter