Commission approves plans for 10-story hotel and rehab of German School in La Villita
https://sanantonioreport.org/hdrc-10...ol-la-villita/
The Historic and Design Review Commission signaled its approval Wednesday for a planned 10-story boutique hotel and restaurant to be built in the La Villita Historic District.
In addition to constructing a new hotel, the investment group of Indiana-based hotel development firm White Lodging plans to rehabilitate the German-English School, building a connector between the old and new structures.
The commission gave conceptual approval in December 2019 to the project, described then as a nine-story hotel, despite historic preservationists’ concerns.
A representative of the Conservation Society of San Antonio said at the time that the organization felt the structure’s size and scale would be inappropriate for La Villita.
Kathy Krnavek, the Conservation Society board’s first vice president, repeated those concerns on Wednesday.
“The Conservation Society of San Antonio continues to disagree with the assertion that the massing of the new structure is appropriate for the block,” Krnavek said. “The high-rise section is significantly taller than all existing buildings, including the hotel on the south side of Arciniega [Street].
“Secondly, we recommend prioritizing the pedestrian experience for this section of the historic district, including maintenance of a strong pedestrian connection to the courtyard of the German-English school and reducing the automobile focus at the hotel entrance.”
The hotel site is a 1-acre parcel located at 423 S. Alamo St., currently used as a surface parking lot.
It is situated between the seven-story Marriott Plaza San Antonio hotel and the historic German-English School and directly across the street from Yanaguana Garden in Hemisfair.