SAN ANTONIO | St. John’s Square | 8 FLOORS | Proposed
 

St. John’s Square would offer workforce housing near La Villita
by Jolene Almendarez | Aug 3, 2018
The Heron

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/jTcaq4L.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/0QY9oEa.jpg[/IMG]

A parking lot near La Villita, primarily owned by St. John's Lutheran Church, could end up as the site of an eight-story, mixed-use apartment building — a combination of workforce and market-rate units, retail space and a rooftop pool.

Austin developer Dennis McDaniel, who built the Steel House Lofts, is partnering with the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) and St. John’s Lutheran Church on the project.

The project, known as St. John’s Square, would sit on the southeast corner of South St. Mary’s and East Nueva streets, a 1.3-acre lot just west of the church. It could cost upwards of $50 million to build and offer around 250 units.

On Thursday, SAHA commissioners voted to pursue 4 percent low-income housing tax credits, a federal program that’s meant to spur affordable housing growth.

McDaniel said roughly 80 percent of the units would be leased at market-rate rents, while 20 percent would be considered workforce housing and therefore offered to people making 80 percent of the area median income (AMI) — which, in San Antonio, would amount to $50,800 for a family of four. However, the project’s details are still being negotiated, he added.

“We’re real happy to be in the design stage of this project, because it helps the community,” McDaniel said. “It helps the church and we think it’s going to be pretty special.”

In 2013, McDaniel met Oliver Gunnels, who managed the St. John’s lot, and who also lived at the Steel House Lofts, when it was a for-rent property. Gunnells connected McDaniel with church officials who asked him to build a parking garage on the lot.

But McDaniel wasn’t excited about building just a garage. Later, he instead proposed adding apartments and retail space to accompany a parking structure.

The church agreed and the two sides spent nearly five years working out the details of the arrangement. McDaniel signed a 99-year lease on the property in February. In return for the lot, St. John’s will receive a package that includes parking spaces, and revenue from rents, he said.

Current site plans show 110 studios, 138 one-bedroom apartments, 13 two-bedrooms and about 335 parking spaces. The project also includes 6,612-square-feet of retail.

Rents have not been determined. McDaniel said market rate for the area, which is a block west of Hemisfair, is between $2.30-$2.40 a square foot, or between $1,200-$2,300 per month.

Rents for the workforce housing are still being negotiated, said Tim Alcott, SAHA's real estate and legal services officer. So are the exact percentage of the total units that would be reserved as workforce housing.

While the Steel House Lofts connected McDaniel with the property, SAHA played a role, too.

After the Steel House Lofts became a for-sale product in 2014, SAHA President and CEO David Nisivoccia purchased a unit and soon met McDaniel, who wasn’t familiar with SAHA’s mission.

So when Nisivoccia pitched making the St. John’s Square project a SAHA partnership with workforce housing, McDaniel was game.

The project is due to receive $3.2 million in city Center City Housing Incentives Policy incentives — an estimated $2.3 million in city tax rebates over 15 years, along with city and SAWS fee waivers and a mixed-use loan for the retail build-out.

Another funding method being considered, aside from the traditional mortgage-equity partners combo, is from the Opportunity Zone, a federal program that offers investors tax incentives for contributing funding to distressed, low-income areas prime for revitalization. It’s unclear whether the St. John’s Square project will get the funding or how much money the project could be eligible to receive.

Both Alcott and McDaniel said the capital details are still being worked out.

Awesome! Preliminary designs look nice... and retail! Although it looks like the two walls you can't see in the rendering are purely parking garage. Hopefully the retail extends on those two sides. To not do so would be short-sighted.

The outer walls that are not visible are definitely residental units/continuation of the development.

All that's missing is a square.

I LOVE these. :)

The preliminary design looks nice and adequate for that area. It will compliment the TL building nicely and eliminate an eyesore parking area and increase density in the core.

https://i.imgur.com/tUFLHjD.jpg

Slowly but surely, the surface parking lots are disappearing in south downtown.

There are residential units, but not retail, on the sides facing east and south.

You can’t really have retail on the south side since that’s facing the interior of the block, and that block of Presa is pretty quiet. The retail parking garage entrance will be over there.

Fair enough. Thanks for the explanation. :cheers:

What do you mean by that?

You "can't" have retail on the south side of the block. Why not?

The south side is more property than a street. I can see TxDev's point.

https://i.imgur.com/m01ZSDO.jpg

The orientation of the building is similar to 1800 Broadway, if you are familiar with that property. At 1800, the main retail side is Broadway. On the North, Grayson would be secondary, Alamo St is the back and is garage entrance, trash cans, etc, and the South side of the building doesn’t face a street, it faces someone else’s property. So, you couldn’t really have retail facing south.

I found this.

http://austinfairchild.net/projects.php

"Located in downtown San Antonio between the RiverWalk and HemisFair Park, across from LaVillita, this 8 story residential tower will also include ground floor retail and a parking garage serving its residents, customers and downtown visitors. To be built on a 99 year ground lease with St John’s Lutheran Church next door, construction will begin in 1st quarter 2019."

http://austinfairchild.net/images/pr...cept-study.jpg

http://austinfairchild.net/images/pr...activation.jpg

http://austinfairchild.net/images/pr...pment-site.jpg

http://austinfairchild.net/images/pr...pt-massing.jpg


It reminds me a lot of the Express-News building.

https://s.hdnux.com/photos/73/43/17/...5/920x1240.jpg
https://s.hdnux.com/photos/73/43/17/...5/920x1240.jpg

LOVE IT!!:cheers:

PERFECT FOR THAT AREA!!!:cheers:

IT DOES RESEMBLE THE HISTORIC EXPRESS NEWS BUILDING!:cheers:

Gorgeous. Simply beautiful.

Wow! Another home run! The SATX is definitely leading the league in the home run category!!!

New Renderings, again. Goes to the HDRC on Wednesday. HDRC PDF

https://i.imgur.com/6Cnv3sF.png

https://i.imgur.com/d5ANOiF.png

https://i.imgur.com/0xY8Zun.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/H2hrZgk.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8NOghP5.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/b5723Oz.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/sDPH77l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/j0xLLIp.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ZIZPPW8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ZIZPPW8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IzvzoHd.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/NE1UQBP.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ycgReMF.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YAyDZhc.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uMBzPyI.jpg

Why did they change the design? I thought the previous design had a lot more character and a pretty upscale feeling, like something you'd find at the Pearl. These new renderings show a building struggling to break up a mediocre façade with simple color variations, IMO.

Like.

The new rendering have a much more modern look. I like it. The original had the same boring beige that SA is overwhelmed with.

Ugh. They changed it to that same boring design going up in every city in the country... with added orange crap! :hell:

I edited this for you.

The original design was in the same mold. At least this one hides the parking garage better, has a pop of color, and has retail space that is actually obvious to passerby (and will thus hopefully actually be used by pedestrians).

My opinion, just let it get built before you pass judgment. Basing off renderings isn’t fair. Who’s to say this won’t look much better in actuality and in person once built.

I get your point and appreciate it. But judging off of renderings is fair. I studied architecture at the UT College of Architecture, just like many people here (or with similar backgrounds, often with much more expertise than mine). I know how to make and how to read a rendering. Its purpose is to show what a building will look like before it's built. If we can't judge this off its renderings, what's the purpose of the renderings?

I get what you’re judging it off of and I’m not saying you can’t, but my point is that you shouldn’t put all your weight of your opinion on this project based of drawings and renderings.

This could be much better when built.

I hope it is. :cheers:

In my opinion, this looks like a cheap affordable housing project you'd see on the outskirts of a european city. The other design did create a modern take on vernacular architecture. But I do appreciate the retail on the corner and the density of this project. Either way, something going in this area will only bring more infill development in an area with a lot of empty parking lots, so cheers to that success.

It needs something in the front. The building shape is like the Vistana or the Express news building. I needs something!!! Just like the Embassy Suites downtown has nothing in the front, its just a wall of windows with no crown.

Then again, their rendering of the Tower of the Americas looks like a Tinker Toy with a pie tin on top. So maybe this finished building with be ASTOUNDING!

That may or may not be true. The only problem is it'll be too late at that point, either way.

If it turns out indeed to be awful, no one is going to say "oh god, this is fugly, let's tear it down and start again."

Eh.

I don't know about anyone else, but I would never want to live on the first floor in a downtown. I mean, just look at all those people loitering outside my window. Plus the headlights shining in, the noise, the puke from weekend drunks, the ease of break-ins. :yuck:

:???:

21 apartments on the ground floor.

https://i.imgur.com/d5ANOiF.png

That’s not why I used that smiley.

Well, that explains that. :cheers:

I was questioning the bizarre fear mongering with regards to first floor residential units. You, being in Boston and being a huge cheerleader for urban development should know there are many buildings in both those cities that have first floor residential units in buildings in their urban areas.

Borderline accusation there, buddy. Care to delete your own post?

Yes, I'm a cheerleader for thoughtful urban development. Yes, there are many buildings with first floor residential units. Yes, all the things I listed are negatives that can come with living on the first floor. Yes, having residential on the first floor takes away space for potential retail, which in my opinion is much better suited for the first floor for many reasons.

:cheers:

It’s an accurate description of your comment. There’s no need to delete the post. I did however edit your to the.

Of the many recent (year or two) residential developments with first floor units, you’ve made your opinion known about the loss of retail space or the absence of retail space altogether. But, never have you talked about drunks or break ins or noise. It was a very odd addition to your narrative.

I find discussions about lack of street level retail instead of first floor housing units to be really quite funny, considering that a majority of street facing buildings in pretty much every large urban core in the United States and Europe are residential units. People who make this complaint seem to simply ignore the vast swaths of attached and narrow lot semi-detached townhomes, flats, and small apartment buildings that dominate Brooklyn, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and others and think that mixed-used corridors are the norm. They aren't. Manhattan itself is probably majority residential on the first floor. If those cities can't sustain retail on every street facing first floor façade with the population densities that they have, then no other city can even come close. It's a pipe dream, people, give it up.

And this one, that is currently facing complaints, actually DOES have street level retail. I count that one as a HUGE win in a city with an urban core as population sparse as San Antonio.

Also, I'm glad SKW and I finally agree on something.

Edit: I'll also add that even if Manhattan is not majority residential on the first floor, it is almost certainly majority non-active uses fronting the street (such as residential lobbies and office lobbies).

But this is not a side street such as West 73rd through West 78th, West 80th through West 85th, West 87th through West 95th, etc. It's a larger intersection with the potential to be like West 79th and Amsterdam which has a lot of retail below its residential. You guys can make all the arguments you want in favor of ground level lack of retail... that's your choice. But once buildings are built like that, there's no going back and adding the retail. Glad my 18 years in New York City and 7 in Boston could provide the experience that allows me to be part of the entertainment for you. If this forum were boring you wouldn't want to visit.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4278...7i13312!8i6656

So one last reply (and please don't delete it, SKW, even though you have the power).

So I've never talked about drunks or break-ins or noise before. Does that mean I can't now? Those are realities... unfortunate ones, but realities nonetheless. Therefore it's not odd.

Whenever a new design comes along, I will voice my opinion about it, as I did with this new design. I would appreciate anyone and everyone else to do the same as well. If my opinion is not the same as yours, live with it. If your opinion is not the same as mine, I'll live with it. I may state so and why, but I won't try to stop you from having it and stating it. So please don't try to pressure me into not saying what I want to say . I'm always thoughtful with my words, and I'm always respectful of others' opinions. Please do the same. Nobody but Dylan owns this forum. Nobody.

Onward.

I disagree. I have friends that live in street level apartments in not only the downtown area but in the pearl area. They’ve never had issues with drinks or break ins.

What you’re saying is the same as someone saying you shouldn’t live on the south side because of potential break ins or violence or etc. It’s a sort of fear mongering done by outside observers and not by people living in those situations. Maybe you have lived in that situation. Maybe you have lives in a street level unit and have had those issues, I don’t know, but that’s not how you framed it.

You're missing a huge economic component though, which is demand. When demand rises, renovating bottom floor residential units into retail is possible. I too have live(d) in a very densely populated neighborhood(Berlin) with a very high volume of foot traffic and yes, retail on the ground floor. But the fact is, as of the last couple years, physical retail has been slowing dying. I've seen a countless number of physical stores close and those locations turned into residential units. The thing is, eCommerce is the growing trend and I don't see it slowing down yet the opposite. Restaurants and bars are different though.

This is flat out wrong, because:

1. This building already does have retail on the most prominent corner.
2. You CAN go back and renovate the existing ground floor residential units to be retail if need be when demand for it rises with population density.
3. I currently live in Chicago, on a major thoroughfare that has ZERO street level retail within 10 blocks of me in the urban core. Every single building is residential only, in a much more densely populated area than ANYWHERE in San Antonio.

I lived at Pearl for a bit and felt safe for the most part. There were car break ins for those who parked on the street. Early mornings at the dog park also featured some interesting characters roaming around but that's urban life for you.

So, everybody's had their say and I said my last reply would be my last reply, and I'm sticking to it. I appreciate everyone's input.

Now I'm looking forward to seeing what the finished product will eventually look like. Hope everyone has a nice day.

HDRC approved.

https://saheron.com/st-johns-square-...gn-commission/