1. Stick frame construction at 4 or 5 stories is cheaper than 15 or 20 stories of concrete or steel.
2. It's much easier to finance apartments.
3. There's a proven market for apartments in Downtown, River North, Southtown in this exact form (Want to develop a property? Do what everyone else has done. Banks will easily finance that.)
4. The market isn't available for high rise condo living in San Antonio.

Intriguing answers. I'm going to take Alteza out of the convo as it's part of the Grand Hyatt and that was a City-driven project from my understanding. So that leaves me wondering about Vistana, Vidorra Broadway.

1. Stick frame has always been cheaper, but we still have these three steel frame projects. It's four again if you add the Cascada project, but that's from a few years earlier. And condo.

2. Completely right!

3. There's a proven market now, but there wasn't one back in '06 when these projects were starting. Nobody lived downtown, fewer employers, there was no Pearl, no river extensions, no main plaza, and no cycling culture. They still got built. Why?

4. If there isn't a market now, I'd imagine less of one in '06/'07. If the apartment rents still don't justify taller buildings today, I'd imagine the pro forma on a condo tower wouldn't balance either. Did it back then?

Or were these projects just part of the housing bubble and never based on substantial demand?

That's an excellent point!

I don't know if the City had a well-defined infill policy back then, but the current one is unit-based. Do you think that policy change was a primary driver?

with all of the infill projects wrapping up and breaking ground, and with the new high rise proposals, I think it's time for a new map to properly visualize things!!!

Here's a recap of the tallest buildings recently proposed for downtown.

AWESOME! They all NEED to get built!!:cheers:

Anything on the Cambria Hotel on Main St.?:yes:

UPDATED recap of the tallest buildings proposed for downtown San Antonio.

FAA permit for the Sunset Building. It lists the height as 61 feet. It's an office building. The location is at the southeast corner of East Sunset Road & US 281.

Are there any renderings of this one? Is there a thread for it? I couldn't find it.


https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...8099714&row=18

The crane permit lists the crane as 160 feet.
https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external...58099719&row=1

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.5077...7i13312!8i6656

The sign that's on Google Maps has a rendering on it for a two (3?) story medical office building. The sign's been there for years though, so idk if that represents what's actually going to get built.

I figured I'd post this here because it's really where I should have asked the question in the first place.

Urban San Antonio development map:

Lisa Wong (owner of Rosarios) and now owner of the El Mirador property has indicated that she wants to demo the building for her new "Rosarios." I'll state it here...El Mirador > Rosarios. Their food was always on point and drinks were good. Rosarios is just another typical SA tex-mex joint. It's not bad but I'm not driving downtown to go there. I made trips to El Mirador.

https://saheron.com/el-mirador-demol...uest-rosarios/

I basically grew up in that place, it's very special, even without the actual El Mirador restaurant there. This is a travesty.

Yep, that little room nooks, bar in the back and then that great patio. This is one where I hope HDRC shuts her down and makes her keep it. to be fair to her, I don't know exactly what her plans are...maybe its just a partial demo of something inconsequential but I doubt it.

Maybe she will propose to repurpose the new into the old? I mean the current location's layout is a mess as it is. I really don't think anything she will do differently will be bad.

That messy layout was part of the charm in my opinion. I could get behind a multi story structure with some 1st and 2nd floor patio spaces that wrap around the building.

Agreed.

The back part of the old main part of the restaurant is very old, apart from any sentimental attachment I have for the busienss. The part closest to the street is a modern addition, but the back part which used to be an old house has original limestone walls from who knows when, I'd bet the 1870s or 1880s at least. She'd be crazy to waste all that charm she paid for and HDRC would be crazy to allow her to do it.

i don't see them allowing her to do it but if she has connections at the city, i bet she can put some pressure on them.

What happened to the thread for the 393-foot building on Soledad? :???:

KingWilliam said it had to be taken down for a bit but will come back at some point. Believe developer or somebody didn't want it out in the wild until they had done a release themselves about the project...my speculation.

Thanks. Hopefully they saw our critiques of the design and took it to heart. (I wouldn't count on it though.)