A new tower on Broadway? City panel clears the way for developer to build as high as 15 stories
https://sanantonioreport.org/broadwa...height-zoning/
The owners of several city blocks near the Pearl could put up buildings as tall as 15 stories due to a recommendation made Wednesday at a meeting of the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC).
That exception to the rules governing development near the River Walk, which limits building heights to 10 stories, came at the request of BESA Land Partners, an affiliate of local real estate company Fulcrum Development.
Commissioners approved BESA’s request to place what’s known as a development node overlay for properties within the River Improvement Overlay (RIO) in order to increase the allowable building height.
A development node in this area would allow the developer to exceed the building height by 50%, which could mean BESA could build up to 15 stories. It also allows zero setbacks from all property lines.
Adopting development nodes within a RIO district requires a review by HDRC and the Zoning Commission, according to a proposed amendment to the Unified Development Code that will be considered by City Council this fall.
“But just because you get the development node approval doesn’t mean that your design is going to be approved,” said Ashley Farrimond, an attorney representing BESA. “It just gives us the ability to have the additional height. But that’s still subject to HDRC approval.”
The area considered during Wednesday’s HDRC hearing consists of 22 individual parcels bounded by Broadway Street to the west, Casa Blanca Street to the south, North Alamo Street to the east and the 1800 Broadway apartments to the north.