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Posted Aug 13, 2008, 4:21 AM
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Loving SA 365 days a year
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Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 3,891
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{SA} FINALLY!! Lone Star Brewery to Become Mixed-Use Development
Quote:
Lone Star Brewery to get new life
Creighton A. Welch - Express-News
The Lone Star Brewery, a South Side landmark since 1933, soon will see new life — in the form of a mixed-use development.
Austin-based B. Knightly Development & Construction bought the 22.8-acre site Aug. 1 and plans to turn the brewery, vacant since 1996, into an urban community.
Plans for the site, along the San Antonio River near Roosevelt Park, include multifamily housing, commercial space, a bar, beer garden, microbrewery and boutique hotel, according to the May 15 City Council minutes that approved a zoning change of the site.
The developer also plans to refurbish the Olympic-size swimming pool and beer-tasting area, and apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification.
The sale price wasn’t disclosed, but B. Knightly took out a $3.65 million note, payable to the former owner. The property is appraised at $2.7 million, by the Bexar Appraisal District. The brewery once operated as quite the diversion destination, with a swimming pool, bar and the Buckhorn Hall of Horns, but has sat unused since the Stroh Brewing Co. closed it.
“There are so many benefits this project could have in that neck of the woods,” said Mark Tolley , managing partner with B. Knightly. “We have scoured San Antonio for three years for ..... an appropriate project that has all of the right attributes for a successful urban infill community. The Lone Star presented a very unique opportunity in this regard.”
The seller was Newell Commercial Property LP, of the Newell Recycling facility operating next to the brewery.
Tolley didn’t reveal details about the mixed-use project, but said he’d divulge more in the “immediate future.”
“The thing about the Lone Star site that’s so phenomenal is its size,” said Chad Carey, acquisitions manager with Regent Living, a San Antonio development company. “..... It’s extraordinarily difficult to acquire a tract that large. If you have a 23-acre site, you can do much more.”
He said a site of that size could have as many as 1,000 residential units, 100,000 square feet of retail space and 500,000 square feet of office space.
“If this is done right, this could be every bit of a $200 (million to) $250 million project,” Carey said.
Carey’s company is developing apartments along Broadway and the Clay Street Flats condos in Southtown.
“Given the progressive developments that are happening all over Southtown and King William, it could be absolutely wonderful,” Carey said. “But it’s a huge project. Having worked on a 3-acre project, it boggles my mind to execute something that huge.”
Most of Tolley’s projects have been on the West Coast. He’s involved in several Austin projects, and at one time considered redeveloping the Mission Valley Textile Mill in New Braunfels.
“My group has developed over 4,000 units and we specialize in adaptive reuse,” he said. “We believe that San Antonio is one of the more dynamic and healthy real estate markets in the U.S. and we are happy to bring our adaptive reuse and green building experience to the downtown urban core, particularly on the southern reach of the River Walk.”
The brewery site, at 600 Lone Star Boulevard, is poised to help expand and redevelop San Antonio’s downtown area as well as property along the San Antonio River.
The former brewery also is at the commencement of the Mission Reach portion of the $250 million river improvement project. Crews broke ground on the Mission Reach in June.
“I think San Antonio and Bexar County have demonstrated their commitment to the river and its improvement,” Carey said.
Phase 1 of the Mission Reach runs 1.2 miles south from Lone Star to the convergence of the river and San Pedro Creek. Work on Phase 1 is expected to be complete in a year and a half.
The Lone Star Brewery’s future — turning a former brewery into a mixed-use development — isn’t new to San Antonio.
Travel about 4 miles north along the river and you’ll find a similar situation, just a few years ahead.
The Pearl Brewery, a similar 22-acre site, is being transformed into a mixed-use development with restaurants, residential units, and retail and office space.
The brewery closed in 2001 and was purchased by Silver Ventures, the project’s developer, in 2002.
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