SAN ANTONIO | Vitré Apartments | 4 FLOORS | Under Construction
 

http://www.bigreddog.com/wp-content/.../05/Vitre4.jpg

http://www.bigreddog.com/wp-content/...5/05/Vitre.jpg
Source: Big Red Dog Engineering

Located at 700 W Commerce on the West Side, 242 Units, 5,000 RSF of retail.

210 Development Group and Catamount Constructors broke ground on this in September, according to the article linked below. However, the developer has put the project on a brief hold, but I couldn't get any information on why. When I went here to look, I noticed there wasn't a thread for this yet!

http://www.ksat.com/news/downtowns-v...ground-tuesday

I still think this is a weird location. Like maybe too soon? But who knows, maybe it'll be a catalyst.

I agree. That's still an extremely sketchy area. Not that it doesn't have potential, but I think they may have jumped the gun here.

UTSA downtown is near.

Wow, it actually has ground level retail. Works for me.

I was gonna say that! Lol i didn't notice it had ground retail until a few hours ago, plus one for this project!

This will likely end up with a good number of students, and the ground level retail will be frequented by UTSA students. It is legit right across the street. And I have no idea why y'all think this is still a sketchy area? There are festivals and such under the freeway, Mi Tierra and all that is right across the freeway, the new hospital is just a few blocks north, etc.

there is a homeless population about a block away, and i've seen a legit street fight two blocks west... :(

Have you ever even been there on foot? It's literally a different world when you cross under that highway. I used to have to take a bus transfer on the same corner where the VIA transfer plaza is now. During the day time it's pretty bad, it's partly a day labor pick up zone and partly a hang out for bums. It's really pretty shocking sometimes how many people are just loitering around with beer or malt liquor in brown paper bags or passed out on the sidewalk there. During the nighttime it switches from intimidating to terrifying, I've never felt so scared and threatened in San Antonio as when I would be walking through that area. I don't have to wait for the bus there anymore thank god, but when I bike through that area nowadays it doesn't seem too different than it did a few years ago.

And for those who think I have an elitist axe to grind against homeless people, I really don't, but there's a huge gulf between what I would call "regular" homeless and substance abusers. The Cattleman's Square area is mostly the later.

Neighborhoods improve when quality residential moves in. Especially with the ground level retail, which means people will spend time in and around the ground level. This will help improve the neighborhood and others will follow.

My only concern is that there seems to be open-ended parking in the back. That could be a bad hangout.

I think it speaks volumes that in Alamo College's presentation justifying their need to move from their Westside location catty corner to these apartments and build a new headquarters elsewhere, they literally included photos showing their view from their offices there that included people being arrested, passed out, urinating, etc (page 6 in the below link) and a map depicting the various homicides, detention centers, etc in the proximate area (page 7). The crude drawings of bodies on said map are depressingly comical... They even have photos of their employees who work there holding signs that say "Please help us"...

http://res.cloudinary.com/courbanize...tjkn99x8em.pdf

I do not think I will be a tenant.

Wow. Those pictures and that list really say it all.

Also, I wonder what the relationship is between all of that and proximity to the jail? Can someone more familiar with criminal justice give us some insight as to why the jail is in the middle of town rather than on the edge of town?

There are two detention centers near-ish to this apartment. Not sure about the detention center on the Westside, but the Central Detention Center that really is in the middle of Downtown is run by a private company--that deal expires in 2017. That property and the parking lots on either side of it are currently for sale to a developer, so it's going away!!

http://therivardreport.com/city-coun...n-real-estate/

Oh well if this is where vagrants get drunk and where day laborers congregate then I guess there's nothing that can be done about that. Sorry everybody, no hope, nuke it from orbit.

LOL. The funniest part about page 6 was the photo showing that a cricket was part of the problem.

The area does indeed seem pretty bad, but leaving an area as such will just maintain how bad it is. Take the Bowery in NYC. That area used to be the skid row of NYC and now it is an extremely nice area with a lot of trendy hotels, living space and is completely safe and rid of its "skid row" reputation. I'm not saying this development will have the same effect but it is definitely a step in the right direction to bringing attention to an area that isn't completely safe. It's a bold development, but someone has to do it in order for anything to change. And this area has huge potential to be a cool enclave for students.

This is a little nit-picky but is anyone else super disappointed with the design? It seems very dull/bland for a building that is going to be part of downtown.

Yes. It is terrible.

I was an undergrad at UTSA and almost all of my classes were at the downtown campus. So yes... all the time. It isn't as bad as I really think you think it is.

There are 10 buildings exactly like it going up in every city in the country.