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San Antonio Business Journal
By Mitchell Parton – Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal

Downtown San Antonio appears to be getting another high-rise hotel and condo tower.

Miguel Saldana, senior associate for local firm B&A Architects, submitted site plans and conceptual renderings on July 16 for a 30-story project at the former WOAI-TV studio at 1031 Navarro St. to the Office of Historic Preservation for approval by the Historic and Design Review Commission.

Under the submitted plans, the first two floors of the building with elements of the current structure on site would be common areas and back-of-house space for the hotel. The third through fifth levels would house an automated parking garage, one of the first downtown after the automated garage at the 16-story Floodgate tower being constructed at 139 E. Commerce St.

Condominiums would take up levels 6 to 10, with floors 11 to 28 being both hotel and condo units. The 29th floor would include a roof deck and hotel space. The top floors of the tower would include common spaces, an amenity deck and equipment penthouses.

The project would include restoring the north and west facades, "repairing the historic fabric with like materials," according to a conceptual project description submitted to the OHP. It also would include demolishing a portion of the building as well as a secondary building at the east property boundary and the broadcast antenna.


The tower would connect to the River Walk through a ramp element at the southwest corner of the site. Vehicle traffic would be routed through Auditorium Circle.

Attempts to reach the architect were unsuccessful. It is unclear who is developing the property.

The property is still owned by an affiliate of the Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group — owner of WOAI-TV, the local NBC affiliate — according to the Bexar County Appraisal District. The station moved its operations to a facility near the intersection of Babcock Road and Loop 410 in 2013 when it merged operations with KABB, also owned by Sinclair, the Express-News reported at the time.

Though 10 stories taller, the hotel/condo combination bears close resemblance to the Thompson Hotel and The Arts Residences, a 20-story tower at 101 Lexington Ave. recently completed by Houston firm DC Partners.

That project's 59 luxury condo units — initially seen as a gamble by the developer — quickly attracted many local buyers interested in downsizing to a home with low maintenance, or in a second property. The units were originally advertised with prices from the mid-$400,000s to more than $4 million.

"This sort of hotel/condo combo, which is very popular all over the country, even all over the world, I think will be will be a big win for future projects," said J Kuper, principal broker for The Arts' listing brokerage Kuper Sotheby's International Realty, back in January. "I can project that there will be more of those coming forward, because we're still a hospitality-driven economy in San Antonio."

The Navarro St. project is one of several towering residential developments announced for downtown. Just yesterday, the Business Journal reported that Weston Urban has proposed a 15-story apartment tower on the former Continental Hotel site. That same developer has also proposed a 32-story apartment tower at 305 Soledad St.