From Business Journal:
A downtown hotel project five years in the making is going back before the Historic Design and Review Commission for a fifth time on Nov. 16 after undergoing a series of design changes. While the eight-story project at 151 East Travis Street still intends to deliver 112 rooms and 2,500 square feet of meeting and event space, a number of its exterior elements have changed.
The Artista hotel project, helmed by developer Harris Bay and architectural firm Creo, has been recommended for approval by city staff, albeit with a number of stipulations attached.
Those include incorporating any removed river wall stone into the build, using more brick and making sure outdoor furniture and utility items don't impede pedestrian right-of-ways on the street side or River Walk side.
Design elements struck from the project include a cantilever that was intended to hang over the river and a vertical sign with the Artista name, among other adjustments project architects have agreed to.
(Why were these items removed. I am usually a supporter of HDRC recommendations, but I am not sure about these. Over the years, this project has gone from fresh and interesting, to plain and simple.)
The prolonged approval process is an example of the hurdles attached to development projects downtown, where city officials demand design cohesion and assurances that the River Walk remains accessible.
In an interview a few weeks prior to the HDRC vote, Harris Bay managing partner Jake Harris told the Business Journal that some of the changed designs aligned with the firms "value engineering" of the project due to the overall rise in the cost of construction materials over the past year. Some design aspects, like the Juliet balconies and materials used for the facades, have been cut to stay on budget.
"Some of the materiality — going from brick to a plaster kind of finish — those are some of the other things that we've layered into it," he said. "Which is accustomed to some of the other buildings in downtown, so it's just more cost effective. I wanted to do all brick facades, but my budget and the construction costs have prevented that."
Harris declined to disclose any figures on the construction cost. He added that economic factors have done more to weigh down the project than anything required by the HDRC.
"I think there's nothing from the city's or HDRC's standpoint that has necessarily constrained the project," he said. "I just wish interest rates weren't up as much as they are. I wish that construction costs, materials costs and inflation were not on a runaway train."
When final approvals are in place and a contractor is hired, Harris said that groundbreaking for the project is "optimistically" lined up for the first quarter of 2023. Hotel rooms could be ready 18 to 24 months after that. Harris Bay purchased the land in 2019 for about $2.1 million. The Bexar County Appraisal District's 2022 valuation of the site is about $2.2 million.
(Again they are talking 1st qtr of the next year to start. That is what they said last year about starting this year, not going to hold my breath. At least they keep coming back.)
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