[SA] The Broadway Update | 279 Feet | 20 Floors

[miaht82]

Well its on the 18th floor now; found this article that says 21 floors.

This model of the finished 21-story tower shows the scale of the Koontz-McCombs project.
(Inset) Co-developer B.J. “Red” McCombs talks about the new luxury condos during a recent tour of the construction site. Photos by Steve Elliott

“The Broadway” is dressed to impress
Thursday, 01 January 2009
By Tony Cantú
Contributing Writer
What housing crisis?

The founders of the real estate developers Koontz-McCombs recently gave the media a sneak peek at The Broadway, a luxury condominium project being built at the 2.5-acre site where the iconic Earl Abel’s restaurant once stood.

Even half-finished – the tour’s highlight was an elevator trip to the building’s 10th-floor midway point – the tall structure already has made an impression on the landscape, prominently situated at the corner of Broadway and Hildebrand.

A less tangible, but equally forceful, impact is the demand for luxury units at the high-rise, according to developers’ claims.
Despite a mortgage meltdown that has seen a spike in home foreclosure rates, demand for the yet-unfinished condos is brisk, with many of the units already spoken for.

“We have about one-third of the building sold,” said co-developer B.J. “Red” McCombs, one of the city’s most successful business leaders. “We have landmarks all over the city that x I’m proud of, but nothing exceeds the pride I feel in this landmark.”

Judging from the “ooh’s” and “aah’s” among the small group given the preview – an assemblage that included Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and former San Antonio mayor Howard Peak – the site will offer future residents much of which to be proud. No matter what direction the condos on each floor are facing, inhabitants will be afforded spectacular views of the city, including bird’s-eye views of the downtown skyline.

And then, there are the amenities.

Amidst their luxurious surroundings, the 92 future condo dwellers will be pampered with 24-hour concierge service, use of a 55-foot swimming pool with private cabanas, underground parking access and specially tailored offerings from local luxury auto dealerships and high-end retail merchants. The building’s ground floor will include a lobby, business center, fitness center, yoga studio, media room, catering kitchen, lounge and great room, which can be reserved for parties.

It also will feature underground parking, security gates, two residential elevator banks and a service elevator.

Future residents will truly be an elite class, with only six condos per floor planned from the third to the 15th story, a four-condo-per-floor ratio from floors 16 to 19, and the top two floors will have two living spaces each that span almost 6,000 square feet each.

Such opulence comes with a price, with the cost of the condos on top two floors reportedly going for about $3.5 million each.
Developer Bart Koontz noted the tower is something of a centerpiece for continuing re-development along Broadway, including an enlarged Witte Museum a healthy stone’s throw away.

He suggested the quality of the project ameliorates displacement of the storied Earl Abel’s restaurant, a true San Antonio institution after several decades of operation before its property was purchased for condo development.

“It was deserving of something as iconic as something like this,” Koontz said of the site to those gathered at the 10th-floor shell. “This is the linchpin location for the Broadway re-development. The Abel family will say that we replaced an icon with another icon.”

Demographics of the future luxury crowd run the gamut, from local residents to natives of Mexico and Europe, a construction official said. There are investors from Laredo who have snapped up condos, including wealthy farm and ranch families.

From his 10th-floor vantage point, former mayor Peak seemed impressed as he gazed toward the distant x San Antonio skyline. “It’s quite a place, and you almost can’t take it all in,” he said. “It’s such a spectacular point in San Antonio and you can see so much in either direction. I can’t imagine what the 21st floor will be like!”

Although now just a shell of a building, the interior spaces hint at the future luxurious surroundings of the place expected to be completed by late 2009.

A virtual tour of built-out condos is available for viewing at the condo’s Web site at www.thebroadwaysanantonio.com, a realistic rendering lending to the adage of a picture being worth a thousand words.

Enter the site, and prepare to be awed.

[sakyle04]

^^^

That building doesn't look anything like The Broadway. And I don't think McCombs is really 12 stories tall and glowing.

[miaht82]

I think it is the back of it.

[STLtoSA]

It looks exactly like the Broadway...just from the opposite side, the entrance.

The point of view of this Model is taken from the East. It is weird that they would show this view since every other image of the building is from the other side. I guess who ever chose the photo wanted to include the entrance to the building

I agree that the depiction of McCombs is a bit off though.

[jaga185]

I like the back of it, its not bad, i thought the rest of this building was going to be pretty crappy, seeing as how the Broadway front is nice.

[texboy]

now if we could only get rid of those pesky power lines this building would be almost flawless imo.

[KevinFromTexas]

Yes, but what I really want to know is, how tall is it?!

Originally Posted by sakyle04

^^^And I don't think McCombs is really 12 stories tall and glowing.

Yes, but the mechanical penthouse hidden by the white dome is a nice touch.

Anyway, it looks good.

[KevinFromTexas]

By the way, miaht82, can you please post the source of that article? At least post a link to the article's page. Was this from the Express-News?

[Keep-SA-Lame]

It's from the North San Antonio Times.

[tgannaway89]

KM website lists it at 20 levels.

http://www.koontzmccombs.com/portfol...truction#01%20...

[jaga185]

Maybe the SA times is counting the mech. house?

[miaht82]

Added links. I only count 19 "floors" from the exterior view. I'm assuming the lobby floor is counted as 2 if it is split level in a common area. They must be counting 1-12 and 14-21; of course minus the 13th floor

[sakyle04]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Yes, but the mechanical penthouse hidden by the white dome is a nice touch.

this is the early frontrunner for "hilariously subtle post of the year".

[KevinFromTexas]

So, I emailed the folks at thebroadwaysanantonio.com yesterday for the building heights and floor count info.

I got a reply back today from Mike Reddell with the Ironwood Marketing Group. They of course are the company that is marketing The Broadway.

Here's a San Antonio Business Journal article that mentions them:

Koontz McCombs taps Dallas firm to lead marketing efforts for The Broadway
http://wichita.bizjournals.com/wichi...4/daily14.html

From Mike's email to me:

Originally Posted by Mike Reddell

Kevin:



Please see answers to your questions about The Broadway in red.

Thanks for your interest. I have enjoyed Emporis for some time.

Kindest regards,



Mike Reddell

President

Ironwood Marketing Group

Originally Posted by Mike Reddell

We will have 21 “floors” since we don’t have a 13th “floor.” The reality is that there are 20 floors, we just refer to them as levels. Confusing?

Basically what this means is that if you stood there and counted the floors, you would see 20 actual floors. But because of the tradition of skipping the 13th floor for superstitious reasons, once they reach the 13th floor, they skip it. So instead of it reading "13" on the elevator, it's actually labeled as the 14th floor. So what would be the 20th floor ends up being counted as the 21st. Make sense? So the building should be listed as having 20 floors.

Here are the heights.

278 feet, 7 inches to the top of the mechanical penthouse parapet. This is the highest point on the building and would be the official height of it.

260 feet, 11 inches to the main roof parapet.

240 feet, 5 inches is the height of the 20th and highest floor. So standing on the 20th floor looking out the window, you'd be 240 feet, 11 inches above the street.

[miaht82]

Glass panels are going up on the front, up to the 8th floor.

[maxus]

Originally Posted by texboy

now if we could only get rid of those pesky power lines this building would be almost flawless imo.

my understanding is that they will burying the lines around the intersection as well as widening e. hildebrand. I'll get more details later.

[TXlifeguard]

I'm on the UIW campus about once a week and noticed the incredible density the Broadway adds from the campus. I was walking through the grassy area between the former George Brackenridge home and the campus library. I was really surprised at that angle, it really changed the 'feel' of the campus and provided the sense that you were in a much more urban setting. (The eastern half of the campus tends to be made up of buildings no more than 2-4 stories, so it's easy to feel you are on some small campus in the middle of Iowa). From the lawn looking SE, the Broadway and '07's addition of the Bonilla science building at 5 or 6 stories behind the two story library (in front of me) made a nice progression in height. The Broadway didnt seem to be out of scale (which I had thought it was on that corner surrounded by single story retail and the nearby mid/high rises set back from the street or a bit away from the Broadway).

I'll try and grab a photo next week when I'm down there.

[miaht82]

These are a couple weeks old.
Glass is now up to the 12th and panels are up to the 14th.

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by miaht82

These are a couple weeks old.
Glass is now up to the 12th and panels are up to the 14th.

I really like this building. The location is great.

Man, tear down that ugly at&t building (would the HDRC allow it!?) and build a three tower development. A 7-10 story office building, a 15-20 story residential building and a 20-25 story hotel. Seriously, the closet hotel is at 410 and Broadway I would think. There has to be a market for a hotel in that area. You could also utilize the parking garage that they built. That site is large enough to throw in some town homes or lofts can could be used as student housing for UIW and Trinity.

[Schertz1]

Maybe UIW, Trinity requires three years on campus.