SAN ANTONIO | Urban Core Development Thread

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by theOGalexd

Those must be recent, haven't seen those renders before.

This is the most recent one I've seen of the area


Seems like the big lot next to the old Cadillac showroom is where those apartments are going to be. Looks like they shortened it in the *newer?* renderings.

I'm surprised that Iron Mountain building is historically protected, but then again... with San Antonio, I'm not lol. I guess that brick facade is worth saving. Looks like from that last render it cuts off at 10-11 stories in the picture and keeps going. Fingers crossed that ends up being a 300+ footer.

Iron Mountain building is absolutely worth saving. It just looks bad because they plugged up the windows. Part of what is going to make this an interesting and vibrant neighborhood is the mixture of new construction and the old industrial buildings. Based on what I know about Hixon, they recognize that, and I would be shocked if they demolished it (if it wasn't protected, that is).

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by theOGalexd

Those must be recent, haven't seen those renders before.

This is the most recent one I've seen of the area


Seems like the big lot next to the old Cadillac showroom is where those apartments are going to be. Looks like they shortened it in the *newer?* renderings.

I'm surprised that Iron Mountain building is historically protected, but then again... with San Antonio, I'm not lol. I guess that brick facade is worth saving. Looks like from that last render it cuts off at 10-11 stories in the picture and keeps going. Fingers crossed that ends up being a 300+ footer.

Iron Mountain building is absolutely worth saving. It just looks bad because they plugged up the windows. Part of what is going to make this an interesting and vibrant neighborhood is the mixture of new construction and the old industrial buildings. Based on what I know about Hixon, they recognize that, and I would be shocked if they demolished it (if it wasn't protected, that is).

Also, that rendering is definitely from before Hixon acquired the Iron Mountain parcels. Anything in blue is stuff they didn't own (at the time).

https://saheron.com/hixon-cavender-a...dway-holdings/

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Iron Mountain building is absolutely worth saving. It just looks bad because they plugged up the windows. Part of what is going to make this an interesting and vibrant neighborhood is the mixture of new construction and the old industrial buildings. Based on what I know about Hixon, they recognize that, and I would be shocked if they demolished it (if it wasn't protected, that is).

Also, that rendering is definitely from before Hixon acquired the Iron Mountain parcels. Anything in blue is stuff they didn't own (at the time).

https://saheron.com/hixon-cavender-a...dway-holdings/

I wonder if that midrise on Avenue B in the rendering is another proposed project then. Can't find any info saying if Hixon owns that lot.

If this all ends up happening, the area from Pearl to downtown is gonna become a pretty dense neighborhood.

Side note, does anyone know if the Fulcrum tower on Broadway got the height limit approval?

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by theOGalexd

I wonder if that midrise on Avenue B in the rendering is another proposed project then. Can't find any info saying if Hixon owns that lot.

If this all ends up happening, the area from Pearl to downtown is gonna become a pretty dense neighborhood.

Side note, does anyone know if the Fulcrum tower on Broadway got the height limit approval?

Yeah I think it's an Adelman partnership. They just included it because they know about it. Maybe?

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by theOGalexd

I wonder if that midrise on Avenue B in the rendering is another proposed project then. Can't find any info saying if Hixon owns that lot.

If this all ends up happening, the area from Pearl to downtown is gonna become a pretty dense neighborhood.

Side note, does anyone know if the Fulcrum tower on Broadway got the height limit approval?

Fulcrum height variance got approved. It was part of the consent agenda, so there wasn’t any discussion on it.

[kingkirbythe....]

Pre-construction work set to begin on $92.9M Friedrich Lofts on San Antonio’s East Side

https://saheron.com/friedrich-lofts/

This month, crews are scheduled to begin the environmental abatement process on the ruinous Friedrich industrial site on the East Side, preparing it for the construction of the mixed-income 358-unit Friedrich Lofts.

The $92.9 million project is a public-private partnership between the San Antonio Housing Trust, a city of San Antonio nonprofit, and Dallas developer Provident Realty Advisors; and it’s poised to breathe life into the four-acre Friedrich site after it has sat mostly-vacant for decades.

The project has also been controversial as the Housing Trust’s board of directors, composed of City Council members, has wrestled over the past four years with giving the Friedrich a property tax exemption, which the Housing Trust has the power to do under state law, in exchange for apartments largely not considered affordable by the city’s own definition. Ultimately, the trust’s board has been swayed, during various stages of approval over the years, by the argument that developing a site that has sat mostly unused for more than 30 years outweighed concerns about its lack of true affordability.

Overall, the Friedrich Lofts will include 173 market-rate units, 155 units priced for households making up to 80 percent of the area median income (AMI), and 24 for people making up to 60 percent AMI. The city defines affordable apartments as those priced for people making 60 percent AMI or less.

[ Scroll down for a chart showing various AMI levels. ]

The former home of the Friedrich Air Conditioning Co., the site contains 14 structures on four acres that were built from 1923 to 1956. The three buildings facing the 1600 block of East Commerce Street, including the one that supports the neon “Friedrich Refrigerators” sign, are owned by a group headed by John Miller of Dallas, and will remain. There’s another structure on the back end of the site also owned by the Miller group.

The others will be demolished.

[kingkirbythe....]

Hixon-Cavender partnership moving ahead on Broadway; parking, new brewery are possible next steps

https://www.expressnews.com/business...t-17488939.php

A mini-neighborhood along Broadway in north downtown is moving ahead as San Antonio builder Hixon Properties considers demolition of two warehouses to make way for surface parking and area development — including a new brewery — takes shape.

Hixon recently submitted plans to the city’s Office of Historic Preservation to tear down a 1960s-era warehouse at 902 Avenue B — the former location of the San Antonio Brake and Clutch auto shop — as well as a windowless, 1980s-era warehouse at 931 Broadway to build two surface lots with a combined 168 parking spaces.

The firm, which is working on the area’s redevelopment with the Cavender auto family, hasn’t decided to raze the buildings, Chief Investment Officer Clint Wynn said in a text message response to questions. It intends to restore what he called the “old Buick dealership building,” a three-story brick warehouse at the northwest corner of Broadway and 10th Street, which dates to 1927 and is a city-designated historic landmark.

[theOGalexd]

Lot of all over the place info with these projects. I thought the plot next to the Iron Mountain building was going to be a high rise? Big missed opportunity if they're only going to use that space for a parking lot.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

The parking lot is likely temporary. They have a lot on their plate there, and it's better for them to make a buck off it for the next 5 years while they work on the other bits of the project.

[Urbannizer]

I was in San Antonio over the weekend. Took these pics, not sure of the projects but I know they’re near Broadway.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

The parking lot is likely temporary. They have a lot on their plate there, and it's better for them to make a buck off it for the next 5 years while they work on the other bits of the project.

That's true. Hopefully that's the case!

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

I was in San Antonio over the weekend. Took these pics, not sure of the projects but I know they’re near Broadway.

I'm not sure what the first 2 pics, can't tell exactly what street that was shot from. are but the 3rd is the parking garage for Encore Lower Broadway.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

They're all from the same Encore apartment building off Austin St

[CWalk99]

https://saheron.com/urban-genesis-ap...ts-tobin-hill/

I remember seeing renderings for these three a while back and was confused on their locations, but this article helps clear everything up. These don't have quite as many units as I would've expected but its nice that these smaller parcels will be seeing some density.

[theOGalexd]

That area is starting to becoming pretty dense. If I had to take a stab at the next 2 plots to get developed, it'll probably be the block at at Park & Euclid where those (projects?) are. I could see a flatiron type of building going on the block directly south of there too. The house sitting on that lot looks like it's been rotting away for years.

[kornbread]

https://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...ice-space.html

The article is behind a pay wall, but it looks like they are giving up their downtown presence by the end of 2022.

Here is a similar article
https://sanantonioreport.org/usaa-do...office-towers/

[texboy]

Really not surprised by this. I think we are seeing the tip of the iceberg when it comes to subleases in the office market. Companies are now getting their heads wrapped around whether they are going back to the office full time, doing a hybrid arrangement, or full remote and we're starting to see the effects of that not just in SA but everywhere. I think alot of Class A space will be fine, but the B & C office towers... there's going to be alot of those empty. May be seeing lots of proposals for conversions to other uses, mainly residential, come about in the next decade, or straight up demolitions.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

If they're smart they'll figure out another land use. Hotel is probably the most obvious but maybe there's a market for housing in soulless 1980s office blocks?

[jkill34]

More residential will bring offices back into the downtown area. We are on the right track with 300 main and all that's happening around the Pearl. They just didn't prioritize this 10-15 years ago and we have fallen behind other competing cities.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by jkill34

More residential will bring offices back into the downtown area. We are on the right track with 300 main and all that's happening around the Pearl. They just didn't prioritize this 10-15 years ago and we have fallen behind other competing cities.

10-15 years ago was Castro's Decade of Downtown and the beginning of pretty substantial subsidies for downtown residential and office development (which have now mostly ended). Plus the beginning of the Hemisfair redevelopment, substantial investment in downtown streetscape projects not to mention San Pedro Creek. In fact, downtown was so prioritized relative to other parts of the city it (in conjunction with other issues) created a backlash against the municipal political establishment, which almost made local reactionary clown Greg Brockhouse mayor. So I think it's kind of silly to say downtown wasn't prioritized.

[Restless One]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

10-15 years ago was Castro's Decade of Downtown and the beginning of pretty substantial subsidies for downtown residential and office development (which have now mostly ended). Plus the beginning of the Hemisfair redevelopment, substantial investment in downtown streetscape projects not to mention San Pedro Creek. In fact, downtown was so prioritized relative to other parts of the city it (in conjunction with other issues) created a backlash against the municipal political establishment, which almost made local reactionary clown Greg Brockhouse mayor. So I think it's kind of silly to say downtown wasn't prioritized.

jkill did not say DT was not prioritized, but that DT RESIDENTIAL was not prioritized. Slight difference, and surely nothing to be so offended about.