SAN ANTONIO | Urban Core Development Thread

[sirkingwilliam]

You guys are arguing personal subjective opinions. You can have this discussion in the off topic thread.

[SpiritofSeguin]

The Casseb Building, a flat 90s add-on to the Milam Building on Travis Street that fronts the Riverwalk, is no more. Wonder what the plans are here? Probably some kind of amenity space to compliment the inevitable coin toss between hotel or apartment renovation for the Milam.

Sorry, Mr. Casseb, but progress waits for no man. Over on Alamo Plaza, the former Riverwalk Vista Inn on Losoya Street (apart of the Dullnig Building that houses McDonalds) is getting an internal and external makeover. Pretty spooky watching those big white curtains blow out of the windows at night...

[Keep-SA-Lame]

https://sanantonioreport.org/san-ant...dings-housing/

Bad news for fans of the San Pedro arena site:

The future vision also does not involve a minor-league baseball stadium, said Weston Urban Co-Founder and CEO Randy Smith, despite those parcels being identified in a 2016 report prepared for Centro San Antonio and the City of San Antonio as a potential ballpark location.

The dimensions aren’t adequate for a stadium, he said, adding, “Our company’s vision has always been to help build the city that our kids will call home and we believe that the biggest component of that right now is massively increasing the residential options in urban core.”

[theOGalexd]

I'd rather see towers there honestly. Preferably something 5-600 feet lol.

I think the ITC is the best spot for a MiLB stadium, and have the backdrop with the TOA like the Skydome in Toronto.

[JACKinBeantown]

^^ I agree. Tear down the ITC POS and put a new Spurs arena and stadium there. The ITC collection can go anywhere, and a Planet Of The Apes building doesn't represent the culture of Texas in any way other than the fact that the ITC was built. Circular reasoning in not reasonable. Tear it down.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

The key point I think isn't that people love the ITC building, but rather is UTSA willing to part with the land? The City pretty much assumed the Feds would be willing to part with their chunk of the park but that's wound up being much easier said than done to say the least.

[jaga185]

GrayStreet Partners addresses Government Hill neighborhood concerns on Broadway East

Looks like they are just trynna lower the density on broadway... which like... what? But I mean I guess now we understand why they lowered the heights.

After the vision for the Broadway East mixed-use district was released, GrayStreet Partners sought to address the surrounding community on construction timelines, what stores might occupy the district and traffic concerns.

Retail brokerage Shop Companies published a marketing flyer for what's otherwise known as the "BESA District," a 15-acre complex that would encompass retail, hospitality and multifamily

At a Wednesday night meeting of the Government Hill Neighborhood Alliance, managing partner Kevin Covey gave an overview of the plan, revealed what's next for the former Pig Stand land and answered questions from the community.

Talking about what's next for the Pig Stand, he said the short answer is "we don't know yet."

"The long answer is we're trying to be thoughtful about how we incorporate it into the larger projects that we have," he said. "And one of the things we've had in mind was: This expansion of land has enabled us to reduce the density on Broadway and create something that's a little bit lower density and has a much nicer human scale."

To that end, Covey added, they've reduced the heights of several street-facing structures in the Broadway East plan to three stories or less, saying that the plan has been redesigned twice.

BOL Kevin Covey Gray Street Partners 03expand
Managing Partner Kevin Covey of GrayStreet Partners on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in San Antonio
GABE HERNANDEZ | SABJ
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Addressing questions about increased traffic, Covey said despite plans to build parking structures and dedicate some of their land along Casa Blanca Street to add another lane, traffic is going to be "a nightmare." He blames the Texas Department of Transportation's move to retake control of the Broadway corridor.

He also distanced himself from a section of the marketing flyer that identified retailers like Gucci and Rolex as prospective tenants. Alliance President Rose Hill asked Covey about the possibility of a grocery store tenant. Covey said that H-E-B would be a nice lease to sign, but that their large store requirements are probably not workable in the plan.

"We would love to have a grocer here," he said. "San Antonio is a town that's dominated by H-E-B. I think the way that that business works, they have to have these really big stores. I don't think that we're going to succeed with H-E-B, but we've certainly got this in front of Trader Joe's, Sprouts and a couple of kind of small grocers that aren't here in San Antonio."

Covey said the team is looking to break ground in fall 2024, after clearing zoning, the Historic and Design Review Commission and other government hurdles. He declined to answer media questions after the meeting.

[Onward]

GrayStreet the gift that keeps on giving. That specific area right near the interchange along Broadway should be way more dense than 2-3 floors. Truly enjoyed the part about them acquiring more land making less dense possible. That's the last thing I want to hear a developer with prime land along Broadway say. Here's to hoping this project goes the way it normally does with them and after a few years they sell to someone like Oxbow.

[Tornado]

Originally Posted by Onward

GrayStreet the gift that keeps on giving. That specific area right near the interchange along Broadway should be way more dense than 2-3 floors. Truly enjoyed the part about them acquiring more land making less dense possible. That's the last thing I want to hear a developer with prime land along Broadway say. Here's to hoping this project goes the way it normally does with them and after a few years they sell to someone like Oxbow.

haha, I agree. The only reason they may pull it off is because of Fulcrum but Gray Street involvement decreases the chance for anything happening at the site by at least 60%

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by Tornado

haha, I agree. The only reason they may pull it off is because of Fulcrum but Gray Street involvement decreases the chance for anything happening at the site by at least 60%

That was my initial thought but then I remembered their imploded partnership with Midway at Lone Star. So, definitely not a guarantee.

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by Onward

Here's to hoping this project goes the way it normally does with them and after a few years they sell to someone like Oxbow.

This has me cackling.

Let's hope Weston Urban buys this up if this goes the way it normally does.

[SpiritofSeguin]

In their exclusive article about Spurs @ Hemisfair the Express News mentions Weston Urban is "set to acquire from the city" a 0.9 acre site at the corner of Travis and Santa Rosa, which would be the old San Fernando Gym and/or parking lot area.

Austin is recently set to take the title of tallest building in the state from Houston, but what if...

[texboy]

Originally Posted by SpiritofSeguin

In their exclusive article about Spurs @ Hemisfair the Express News mentions Weston Urban is "set to acquire from the city" a 0.9 acre site at the corner of Travis and Santa Rosa, which would be the old San Fernando Gym and/or parking lot area.

Austin is recently set to take the title of tallest building in the state from Houston, but what if...

Listen... as much as I LOVE the idea of SA getting one over Austin in the skyscraper arena (friendly competition... this IS a skyscraper site!), I would much prefer a cohesive skyline that builds up to a supertall. My mind goes to Oklahoma City... As pretty as their tallest is... it just looks like a massive middle finger to me. A super tall would quite literally be twice as tall as the tallest skyscraper in SA currently (not including TOA) and would just look so rough imo.

[SpiritofSeguin]

Originally Posted by texboy

Listen... as much as I LOVE the idea of SA getting one over Austin in the skyscraper arena (friendly competition... this IS a skyscraper site!), I would much prefer a cohesive skyline that builds up to a supertall. My mind goes to Oklahoma City... As pretty as their tallest is... it just looks like a massive middle finger to me. A super tall would quite literally be twice as tall as the tallest skyscraper in SA currently (not including TOA) and would just look so rough imo.

I made this quickly for a class, I called the San Antonio Spacienda. 120 stories with a restaurant on the 99th floor and the bottom 20 serving as headquarters for Tesla (the grade didn't require for it to be realistic LOL)

I do agree that area of DT needs some development before it gets a megatall, though, but a 75 or 80 story tower could really compliment the district but it really depends on location/design. And I would also hope a bulk of this hypothetical building is residential.

[theOGalexd]

I think some 6-700 footers would be good. We'd definitely have an OKC vibe going on with anything 800+.

It seems like Weston is gunning for the Missions stadium and thats possibly what the Soap Factory acquisition was for. Not sure where that plot in the article is, I'd have to look.

Edit: Yeah that lot is right next to it. They have a ton of other lots that will probably be used for multi family projects.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by SpiritofSeguin

I made this quickly for a class, I called the San Antonio Spacienda. 120 stories with a restaurant on the 99th floor and the bottom 20 serving as headquarters for Tesla (the grade didn't require for it to be realistic LOL)

I do agree that area of DT needs some development before it gets a megatall, though, but a 75 or 80 story tower could really compliment the district but it really depends on location/design. And I would also hope a bulk of this hypothetical building is residential.

Santiago Calatrava copied you!

[urban_encounter]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

^^ I agree. Tear down the ITC POS and put a new Spurs arena and stadium there. The ITC collection can go anywhere, and a Planet Of The Apes building doesn't represent the culture of Texas in any way other than the fact that the ITC was built. Circular reasoning in not reasonable. Tear it down.

The Spurs don’t need a new area. They already have a beautiful arena.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by urban_encounter

The Spurs don’t need a new area. They already have a beautiful arena.

The arena in and of itself isn't bad, but the location is horrible. Pretty sure the lease is until 2032 anyways so all of this is early speculation.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Maybe someone more familiar with all the NBA arenas can correct me, but it's probably the worst location of any of them, right? Almost all the arenas are in downtown locations. Maybe Philly is about as bad?

[Schertz1]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Maybe someone more familiar with all the NBA arenas can correct me, but it's probably the worst location of any of them, right? Almost all the arenas are in downtown locations. Maybe Philly is about as bad?

Not to be argumentative, however, is it better to build a new arena or put an equal amount in making the current location better? IMAO, to spend money on a new one is ridiculous.