San Antonio Express News
GrayStreet buys 1.7-acre property across from City Hall
Richard Webner
September 24, 2018
https://www.expressnews.com/real-est...e-13254277.php
Downtown developer GrayStreet Partners has purchased 1.7 acres of property across the street from City Hall where an Austin developer recently canceled plans to build an $83 million apartment and retail tower.
The firm, which is already working on numerous urban redevelopment projects downtown and around The Pearl, is exploring its options for the property at the southwest corner of Flores and Dolorosa streets, spokeswoman Tomoko Iimura Alavi said in an email. Seven historic buildings are on the site, some occupied by retail businesses and others vacant.
GrayStreet’s purchase could add even more momentum to the surge of new development in store for the Zona Cultural district of west downtown. The city and county have been putting great effort into rehabilitating the district, which is largely dominated by parking lots, vacant storefronts, government offices and law firms, making it dormant after business hours.
Last week, the University of Texas at San Antonio announced plans to build a major downtown expansion on more than 5 acres of land owned by the city and county in the area. The plans include a $57 million School of Data Science that would be next to the property GrayStreet just purchased.
GrayStreet’s new property is a block east of San Pedro Creek, which the city and county are rehabilitating at a cost of $175 million in the hope that it will bring new life to the area.
Also nearby, Weston Urban is constructing a new 23-story headquarters for Frost Bank, and a new federal courthouse is set to be built. Weston Urban has spent the last few years accumulating properties in the area, including a two-story building across from City Hall earlier this month. Another developer plans to build an 18-story hotel and office tower on Main Plaza, a block away.