SAN ANTONIO │ Artista Hotel │ 8 FLOORS │ Proposed

[wwmiv]

To be fair his post says cities are trying to emulate the rivetwalk, not the skyline. And thats true:

Charlotte, Indianapolis, Monterrey, Chicago, Austin, and others have drawn inspiration from the Riverwalk as a template for how to best utilize their own urban waterways as an amenity.

[KevinFromTexas]

Oh, yeah, that's true. Although, I haven't followed those others' attempts and wasn't aware they had been. San Antonio's Riverwalk definitely is one in a million.

I think there is some jealousy on San Antonio's part even if people won't say so, but I think that's unfortunate because what San Antonio has going for it isn't the same anyway. It's totally different environment that really shouldn't be the same as other cities. Now, there are parts of downtown that I could see major high rise construction even near the Riverwalk, but for the most part the Riverwalk is for visitors and is the signature of San Antonio maybe even more than the Alamo is, which is pretty incredible. I also think that given the success of the Riverwalk and what it means for the city that San Antonians should not let that go to their heads. Cities cannot be successful or thrive on one thing alone.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

To be fair his post says cities are trying to emulate the rivetwalk, not the skyline. And thats true:

Charlotte, Indianapolis, Monterrey, Chicago, Austin, and others have drawn inspiration from the Riverwalk as a template for how to best utilize their own urban waterways as an amenity.

Houston, as well.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by Restless One

The lack of height in our DT area is not due to boutique, (notice the spelling. Spelling Nazis need not reply)

Très bien! (Accent Nazis need not apply!)

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Our skyline may not be towering, but it is beautiful, unique, and very historical.

San Antonio's skyline could have used more historical...


Dronin' Dronin' Dronin' by bill barfield, on Flickr

...and less mediocre.


Droning Over... by bill barfield, on Flickr

[KevinFromTexas]

I like postmodern architecture, though, and San Antonio has some decent examples of it. Weston Centre, Bank of America Plaza, and Marriott Rivercenter. I'd be more than happy to have any of those in Austin. And San Antonio has some of the best art-deco and neo-gothic architecture in the US.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I like postmodern architecture, though, and San Antonio has some decent examples of it. Weston Centre, Bank of America Plaza, and Marriott Rivercenter. I'd be more than happy to have any of those in Austin. And San Antonio has some of the best art-deco and neo-gothic architecture in the US.

I sincerely wish we could send all three of those to Austin.


ETA: I'd even throw in Houston's Heritage Plaza if you agreed to come pick them up!

[Rynetwo]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

So, on the one hand, all the rest of American cities are boring with towering skylines, but they're also replicating San Antonio's.

What other American cities are there with tons of new buildings that look old so they could replicate San Antonio? Come on...

I think the point is to a certain extent Austin, but more so Dallas and Houston could be any major city in any state.

San Antonio has narrow streets and the pedestrian experience is enhanced because we don’t have massive buildings sitting on parking garages with retail on the first floor. What takes away from the downtown potential is the activity zone is focused on the river walk.

I LOVE downtown Dallas & Houston from afar, but walking around the pedestrian experience lacks a lot.

[Rynetwo]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

I sincerely wish we could send all three of those to Austin.


ETA: I'd even throw in Houston's Heritage Plaza if you agreed to come pick them up!

The city is about to have 5 more modern buildings on the river walk to complement the historical. Houston has a ton of mediocre hidden by very modern buildings.

[SproutingTowers]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

To be fair his post says cities are trying to emulate the rivetwalk, not the skyline. And thats true:

Charlotte, Indianapolis, Monterrey, Chicago, Austin, and others have drawn inspiration from the Riverwalk as a template for how to best utilize their own urban waterways as an amenity.

Oklahoma City

https://www.bricktownokc.com

[Tornado]

totally unrelated to the topic at hand but happy to see the cobwebs being dusted off (even if temporarily) of the San Antonio forum with some active discussion

[Rynetwo]

Originally Posted by SproutingTowers

Oklahoma City

https://www.bricktownokc.com

I do appreciate the attempt but that looks like the Woodlands waterway more than the river walk.

[Restless One]

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

That plays almost zero role in the sizes of office buildings in a city or how many skyscrapers a city has.

Perhaps in modern times, but it used to be many, if not most, skyscrapers were office towers, and SA not having any big name HQ's over the decades, (going back to 1929 and before), certainly has left our DT area without the skyscrapers even smaller cities have.

After all, SA has a unique designation of having it's tallest office tower being it's third tallest building. If not for Hemisfair '68, it might be even worse, even though some believe, in error in my mind, the TOA set de facto height limit on the DT buildings.

[Hindentanic]

The Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project in Seoul, South Korea, was apparently strongly inspired by the San Antonio Riverwalk and has been stunningly successful there. However, a common criticism of the Cheonggyecheon project in comparison to the Riverwalk that is noted even by Korean visitors to San Antonio is that while the Cheonggyecheon is a larger and longer linear park surrounded by denser urban development and boasting more visitors to a more ancient historical river, it does not have the directly integrated levels of activity between river and adjacent buildings nor the intimate human scale that the Riverwalk has. Seoul's Cheonggye, thankfully and beautifully uncovered from beneath a previous elevated highway, is still a stream in a landscaped trench flanked by busy side roads.

On the proposed Artista Hotel, I think the height is actually suitable for E. Travis Street and complementary with the adjacent Travis Building and block mate Exchange Building. We should definitely encourage more such construction that fills out empty portions of downtown's blocks with buildings that also continue or complement the general roof heights of their streetscape such that streets can become more coherently like urban rooms.


(Street view from Google Earth)

Style wise I find the barren, planar, clunky shapes with muted colors, rhythmless patterns, and punch-out windows in current trends to be cheap looking, devoid of material expression, and boring. I also think that if a building can maintain its streetscape roofline, fill out its lot and block with a continuation of streetscape facade walls, and extend a human-scaled pedestrian ground level experience (continuous sidewalk canopies could be a start), then the actual architectural style employed doesn't really matter.

In contrast, what definitely needs to be prevented can be seen across the street in the hulking IBC Centre with it's urban renewal corporate plaza breaking up the frontage wall of the river and the ghastly corner block parking lot that both of which have urbanistically crushed that area. It even took away the historic Texas Theater. I don't know how to overcome the suburban-office-park-pigeon-holed-into-downtown mess it made...perhaps maybe one day we can fill out its block by having another octagonal skyscraper where that dreck plaza is.


(Image from Google Earth)


(Street view from Google Earth)

[JRG1974]

Good news on this project. Looks like construction will start soon according to an article in the Bizjournal. The picture below shows the Travis building at right, and the Artista on the left.



Long-awaited downtown hotel project moving forward under French operator
Construction is set to kick off next year, and work is already underway at the building next door.

By Mitchell Parton – Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Jul 27, 2021
A long-awaited downtown hotel project is set to move forward after developers selected a worldwide hospitality group to manage the property.

Harris Bay, a development group with offices in California and San Antonio, has chosen Accor to manage and operate its 112-room, eight-story Artista San Antonio hotel at 151 E. Travis St. Construction is expected to begin in first quarter 2022, with the hotel set to open in July 2023.

"We spent a lot of time selecting the right operator to partner with us and bring this vision to the River Walk in San Antonio," said Jake Harris, managing partner of Harris Bay, in a news release. "SBE and Accor really have been some of the pioneers of the hip, modern, lifestyle-boutique hotel space and with such a strong food and beverage operation. We are excited to see San Antonio continue to grow in its international appeal."

The property will have more than 2,500 square feet of event and meeting space for private parties, events, gatherings and meetings. Harris Bay announced the project in 2019.

Kris Feldmann of CREO Architects is leading the design of the project along with an interior design team yet to be announced. Interiors will feature a modern design with nods to local Spanish Colonial architecture and work from artists with "a strong South and Central American flavor," according to Accor. Guests will have access to limited edition prints, custom artwork and bespoke textile and leather goods.

The hotel will operate under the Morgans Originals brand previously operated by SBE, which Accor acquired in a $300 million cash deal in late 2020, Travel Weekly reported. Accor said the brand will "provide much more than a conventional hotel experience, offering the very best in food, mixology, design and atmosphere."

"San Antonio is re-emerging as a premier destination and has been one of the United States' undiscovered gems of culture and diversity for too long," said Chadi Farhat, chief operating officer of SBE, in a news release. "Rich in history, San Antonio is a 300-year-old Spanish Colonial city and we are excited to celebrate that culture on the River Walk at Artista San Antonio."

Harris Bay also plans to redevelop the adjacent Travis Building into a 63-unit apartment property. The firm, along with DJE Texas Management Group, bought that building for an undisclosed price from Missouri-based Drury Southwest, the Business Journal reported last July.

Harris said in an email that residents at the Travis Building will have access to hotel amenities and services, giving it a "concierge and bespoke" rental experience downtown. He said demolition is complete at the building and that construction is now underway. That project is set to be complete in Spring 2022.

Accor, based in France, manages more than 5,100 properties across 110 countries as well as 10,000 food and beverage venues.

Harris Bay is also developing Essex Modern City, a mixed-use development near downtown. That project recently secured a $3.5 million loan for construction, according to a news release from New Jersey-based lender Kennedy Funding. Harris told the San Antonio Report that the loan will not be used for the construction of infrastructure for a railroad quiet zone, contrary to the lender's release.

[jkill34]

Originally Posted by JRG1974

Good news on this project. Looks like construction will start soon according to an article in the Bizjournal. The picture below shows the Travis building at right, and the Artista on the left.



Long-awaited downtown hotel project moving forward under French operator
Construction is set to kick off next year, and work is already underway at the building next door.

By Mitchell Parton – Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Jul 27, 2021
A long-awaited downtown hotel project is set to move forward after developers selected a worldwide hospitality group to manage the property.

Harris Bay, a development group with offices in California and San Antonio, has chosen Accor to manage and operate its 112-room, eight-story Artista San Antonio hotel at 151 E. Travis St. Construction is expected to begin in first quarter 2022, with the hotel set to open in July 2023.

"We spent a lot of time selecting the right operator to partner with us and bring this vision to the River Walk in San Antonio," said Jake Harris, managing partner of Harris Bay, in a news release. "SBE and Accor really have been some of the pioneers of the hip, modern, lifestyle-boutique hotel space and with such a strong food and beverage operation. We are excited to see San Antonio continue to grow in its international appeal."

The property will have more than 2,500 square feet of event and meeting space for private parties, events, gatherings and meetings. Harris Bay announced the project in 2019.

Kris Feldmann of CREO Architects is leading the design of the project along with an interior design team yet to be announced. Interiors will feature a modern design with nods to local Spanish Colonial architecture and work from artists with "a strong South and Central American flavor," according to Accor. Guests will have access to limited edition prints, custom artwork and bespoke textile and leather goods.

The hotel will operate under the Morgans Originals brand previously operated by SBE, which Accor acquired in a $300 million cash deal in late 2020, Travel Weekly reported. Accor said the brand will "provide much more than a conventional hotel experience, offering the very best in food, mixology, design and atmosphere."

"San Antonio is re-emerging as a premier destination and has been one of the United States' undiscovered gems of culture and diversity for too long," said Chadi Farhat, chief operating officer of SBE, in a news release. "Rich in history, San Antonio is a 300-year-old Spanish Colonial city and we are excited to celebrate that culture on the River Walk at Artista San Antonio."

Harris Bay also plans to redevelop the adjacent Travis Building into a 63-unit apartment property. The firm, along with DJE Texas Management Group, bought that building for an undisclosed price from Missouri-based Drury Southwest, the Business Journal reported last July.

Harris said in an email that residents at the Travis Building will have access to hotel amenities and services, giving it a "concierge and bespoke" rental experience downtown. He said demolition is complete at the building and that construction is now underway. That project is set to be complete in Spring 2022.

Accor, based in France, manages more than 5,100 properties across 110 countries as well as 10,000 food and beverage venues.

Harris Bay is also developing Essex Modern City, a mixed-use development near downtown. That project recently secured a $3.5 million loan for construction, according to a news release from New Jersey-based lender Kennedy Funding. Harris told the San Antonio Report that the loan will not be used for the construction of infrastructure for a railroad quiet zone, contrary to the lender's release.

Wonder how the architect will develop this with the Riverwalk in mind. Also white? I know it's supposed to be modern, but it doesn't seem to blend in with the rest of that area that is mostly brick.

[JRG1974]

Originally Posted by jkill34

Wonder how the architect will develop this with the Riverwalk in mind. Also white? I know it's supposed to be modern, but it doesn't seem to blend in with the rest of that area that is mostly brick.

HDRC already gave conceptual approval to this project in June 2019. I am sure they will have to go back for final approval, but I would be surprised if there were any big changes between now and when they break ground. The images on the Architect site are the same as what has been posted before.

https://www.creoarc.com/artista-hotel

Based on those pictures, I think this has a nice interaction with the river. They seem to transition to more grey, limestone and green at the river level.

I agree with you that white facing Travis makes it stick out from the surrounding. That might not be a bad thing.



This should be another nice addition to the CBD.

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by JRG1974

I agree with you that white-facing Travis makes it stick out from the surrounding. That might not be a bad thing.

I agree. I think if they maybe spent just a bit more and made those grey parts brick, it could blend even better. But I like the white facade.

[AwesomeSAView]

No fencing around the Weston residential project, BUT there is new fencing and signage around the perimeter of this project on Travis St.
The signage says Bartlett Cocke Residential, so this project should be breaking ground soon!

[AwesomeSAView]

Lots of movement going on at this lot today! Another crane going up here pretty soon!!