SkyscraperPage Forum - Downtown luxury residential development??

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Downtown luxury residential development??

Does anyone have any information about this?

Campos said that location is not under consideration, and Plaza de Armas, a local news website, Friday reported that Houston-based developer The Hanover Co. is in negotiations to purchase the property for a luxury residential development.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/...#ixzz1Kz9L14vp

Browsing their portfolio The Hanover Co. definitely has the pockets to purchase and build on the Univision site. But browsing their portfolio, their architecture doesn't really impress me, it's all kind of plain-Jane with a dose of boring.

That is a great site backing onto the river and with immediate access to King William and Hemisfair Park so if Hanover does buy at least we know it'll get done and it'll be a sizable development. A residential building at that location would help add some more folks to that stretch of the river and bridge that void between downtown and King William.

You're right, the most interesting thing about the architecture is that it doesn't include a signal tower and a few satellite dishes. But plain-jane can sometimes be okay; it's better than ending up with a building with the SA Combo-5 (the finishes the Convention Center, Alamodome, and numerous other building are "urged" to have.) It'll be nice to have some height fill in kind of subtly.

Although its not a parking lot, it is nice to have a swap of some 9-5ers with some 5-9ers. Residential is the best outcome for this lot and a huge plus for that area, it could be a nice set-up for future residential development at Hemisfair which is just 2-3 blocks over. I'm just glad that it seems to be a normal development and not someone with a grand idea to build a mini-Deutschland.

Other interesting part of the story is HEB talking about a store at Main/Durango.... with 300-500(?) more residents living across the river, a 12,000 sq/ft store (about 1/3 the size of Whole Foods) doesn't sound like too much of a gamble. Maybe they'll call it "HEB Lunchbox."

I looked them up earlier right when I read that and I was also unimpressed with their architecture. I only liked three projects more than the others, two in L.A. and one in Dallas. Not anything exceptional but nice additions. At least they don't build anything really ugly and it's better than nothing at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by miaht82 (Post 5260987)

Maybe they'll call it "HEB Lunchbox."

:haha: I lol'd

Well we heard that they are going to sell the land soon if all goes well, but this is an article a few months old(can't remember if anyone posted it back then) about the spot downtown.

http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantoni...r-for-its.html

Quote:

For San Antonio, the sale could serve to spur some new development activity in the center city.

The land is zoned for mixed-use development, explains John Taylor, senior vice president of capital markets for JLL. Taylor and Elysia Ragusa, senior managing director of the commercial brokerage firm, are heading up the Univision assignment.

Taylor adds that the land would be ideal for a mix of retail, multifamily and office development, and even a structured parking lot.

Even the seller sees the potential for such a project.

“(The site) is very well located in the heart of San Antonio,” notes Luis Patino, vice president and general manager for Univision San Antonio. “It’s convenient to all of the venues downtown, and very accessible to the major expressways in San Antonio.”

As for where Univision will ultimately land, “They would like to be downtown, if they could find the right place,” Taylor continues.

Could that plan involve staying at Durango as a tenant in a mixed-use project?

“We will consider all scenarios that make operational and economic sense for Univision,” Patino says.

The property has already garnered interest from a mix of local, regional and national developers, Taylor says.

The investment side of the real estate market has not exactly been a hotbed of activity of late.

Still, the political climate of San Antonio makes it an opportune time for putting the Univision tract on the market, Taylor continues.

That climate, he adds, is one that has city leaders looking at ways to bring more life back into the center of the city.

“It is a phenomenal opportunity for mixed-use development,” says Ben Brewer, president of Downtown Alliance San Antonio, of the Univision land.

“Definitely, it ought to have a multifamily component,” says Brewer, who has been very vocal about the vital link between residential development and the center city’s revitalization.

High density is key to a successful development, continues Brewer, who adds that he and other stakeholders would like to see something in the “New Urbanism vernacular.” That would involve a project with a mix of uses, built around a pedestrian friendly environment.

Given the high visibility of the Univison land, such a project could also serve as a model for other developments in the New Urbanism vein. “This is an opportunity for a great model for that kind of development we’d like to see downtown,” Brewer says. “Get it in the right hands of a good developer, this could be one of those sites we tout as a great opportunity for downtown.”

Anyone know if they sold the land or not?

It was either in last weeks city council agenda or this weeks, but the city "released" the land to Univision; so I think that means if that was the only hold-up, that as soon as it was "released" to Univision, that it would be clear to exchange hands.

Don't know if there is any news on this or not but I was looking at The Hanover Company's renderings for BLVD Place in Houston and they looked quite nice.
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...itz-closer.jpg
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...blvd-place.jpg
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/p....html?page=all

http://swamplot.com/hanover-uptown-a...ld/2008-10-24/

I'd love for something with the look of those buildings added to the skyline. But why do I fear we'll just end up with a building that looks like this:

http://www.robertrutharchitect.com/g...gallery4-1.jpg

I've heard this deal is DOA, (dead) as the developer wanted too much money from the city to make it work. Has anyone heard anything different?