SAN ANTONIO | Urban Core Development Thread

[sirkingwilliam]

Update on a development talked about here back in February.

107-UNIT MICRO APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT PLANNED FOR RIVER NORTH

A 107-unit apartment project behind KLRN's offices on Broadway received the go-ahead from Bexar County commissioners for county staff to begin negotiations on a 10-year property tax abatement valued at $125,879.

Marketed as “micro apartments,” the majority of the units will be in the 525- to 625-square-foot range.

“We're tying to keep rents as close to $1,000 a month as we can,” said David Adelman of Area Real Estate LLC. “The 525-square-foot (units) will be right about $1,000, or a little less. The rents won't be set until we're open in a year.”

Some units will be as small as 382 square feet, while a handful of others will be just smaller than 1,000 square feet.

The $10 million project includes a parking structure on the former Spires-Douglas Buick dealership at 209 E. 6th Street, and building a five-story apartment building adjacent to it on the same block. The one-year construction period is expected to begin in September.

“It's a small boutique project, but it's going to be packing a lot of punch for the residents,” Adelman said. A residents-only bike shop is planned for inside the garage. A coffee shop open to the public will face McCullough Avenue and Avenue B. And residents will have access to a rooftop lounge and an internal courtyard with a pool and cooking area.

[sirkingwilliam]

Avenue B is going to be on lively area in a few years. There's an estimated 1,000+ units in the pipeline along Avenue B in River North. All that and the street car that will go down Broadway St. a block over hasn't even broken ground yet.

This is the result of the Museum Reach and the Pearl. What effect a streetcar will have for that area...

[jeffutsa2001]

Really excited about the potential of the Broadway corridor. There is so much that can happen and will happen. All of the vacant warehouses and car dealerships would make great lofts/apartments.

[miaht82]

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

Avenue B is going to be on lively area in a few years. There's an estimated 1,000+ units in the pipeline along Avenue B in River North. All that and the street car that will go down Broadway St. a block over hasn't even broken ground yet.

This is the result of the Museum Reach and the Pearl. What effect a streetcar will have for that area...

I don't know... I kind of miss the way the area was before all the improvements. I mean, talk about wasteful spending on infrastructure.

[WorldTexas]

Originally Posted by miaht82

I don't know... I kind of miss the way the area was before all the improvements. I mean, talk about wasteful spending on infrastructure.

Agreed. Who really wants offices, hotels, bars, apartments, restaurants, joggers, wildlife and all that? Give me peace, quiet, and empty warehouses to hide a drug lab any day.

[TexHorn]

Originally Posted by miaht82

I don't know... I kind of miss the way the area was before all the improvements. I mean, talk about wasteful spending on infrastructure.

This was tongue-in-cheek I trust.

[car2004]

Can someone post pictures or models or information on the hotel that SHOULD HAVE been built downtown, on the top of the mall – the one that was rejected about a month or two ago.

Thanks in advance.

By the way, have not been on here in a long time, and only did so specifically because of the good news I heard a few weeks ago about the potential for a new skyscraper downtown - I can see all the excitement on this thread as well. Let's just hope it actually happens. They did say, at the time, plans would be announced within 45 days. I just wish they could start land preparation already. I cannot wait; again, very excited.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by car2004

By the way, have not been on here in a long time, and only did so specifically because of the good news I heard a few weeks ago about the potential for a new skyscraper downtown - I can see all the excitement on this thread as well. Let's just hope it actually happens. They did say, at the time, plans would be announced within 45 days. I just wish they could start land preparation already. I cannot wait; again, very excited.

I think there's a lot more hoops they have to jump through before we see any renderings or site prep being done. The 45 days is per the City's public-private partnership guidelines to allow other proposals to be submitted. After that, Council has to approve the land swap, so who knows when all of that will be resolved.

[sirkingwilliam]

BIGBELLY COMPACTORS DEBUT IN DOWNTOWN PARKS

San Antonio’s parks are about to get a lot more green, but not because of grass.

The Office of Sustainability, in conjunction with Parks and Recreation, Centro, and the Alcoa Foundation, will introduce new solar trash and recycling compactors at Madison Square Park, Thursday at 10 a.m.

BigBelly compactors from BigBelly Solar are divided into two compartments, creating capacity for both trash and recycling. As the receptacles fill up, they regularly compact their contents. Once filled, a wireless signal is transmitted, triggering pick-up. On average, a BigBelly can hold five times the trash of a normal waste receptacle, according to the company. After Philadelphia began using the compactors, pickups were reduced from 17 pickups to only five a week.

BigBelly compactors are not just efficient. They also are solar-driven, and batteries can function for several weeks in less-than-optimal sunlight.

A $75,500 grant from Alcoa to Centro San Antonio is funding the initial 11 compactors will be divided among four parks: Madison Square, Brackenridge, Maverick, and Lions Field. While there are no plans in store for placing the compactors in other city parks, Douglas Melnick, director of the City’s Office of Sustainability, called the plan “another step in providing sustainability.”

[The Model]

New updated picture of the convention center expansion.

[Onward]

Thanks for the update. Can't wait to see the progress in person next month.

[JACKinBeantown]

Thanks for the photo, Raul.

It looks like it will basically only be one floor. Is that correct? Seems like they'd do better to plan a little farther into the future and make it two or three floors of exhibition space.

[miaht82]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Thanks for the photo, Raul.

It looks like it will basically only be one floor. Is that correct? Seems like they'd do better to plan a little farther into the future and make it two or three floors of exhibition space.

Appears to be 3 from the renderings found here.

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

Thanks for the photo, Raul.

It looks like it will basically only be one floor. Is that correct? Seems like they'd do better to plan a little farther into the future and make it two or three floors of exhibition space.

It's a two story structure with two levels of exhibition space.

[WorldTexas]

For all those who keep up with official government policy - The City is considering scaling back the incentives they offer in the River North and Midtown areas. The construction boom and rising rental rates lead them to believe the market is taking hold firmly. The proposed changes would see them only provide incentives to new projects that include affordable housing or are taller than 5 floors. They want to ensure the neighborhood stays somewhat affordable and promote greater density.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by The Model

New updated picture of the convention center expansion.

http://i.imgur.com/LMhI6ga.jpg

I got lucky and found a rendering from the same view as Raul's photo (kudos to Raul). So are they going to build another level on top of that large section where the yellow crane is?

[trillhippy_210]

It looks so nice! Can't wait to see the end result.

[sirkingwilliam]

The city is ready to give the job of redeveloping Red Berry Estate — an 84-acre site on the East Side — to a partnership consisting of national developer NRP Group, and Terramark Homes and Wallace-Bajjali Development Partners, both of Sugar Land.

The group is proposing a $149.8 million development that would include 600 apartments, 66 townhouses and more than 300,000 square feet of commercial space for medical offices, retail shops and restaurants.

It's also proposing a $2 million renovation of the historic Red Berry Mansion, improvements to a 12-acre man-made lake next to the mansion, and connecting the lake to the Salado Creek Bike Trail.

In 2012, the city purchased the property for $2.25 million.

If City Council approves the public-private partnership on Thursday, the group will begin design, and construction could start next summer. [Note: It was approved]

The developers plan to build on roughly 50 acres surrounding the mansion, 856 Gembler Road, with shops and restaurants accessible from Interstate 10 — the kind of development the AT&T Center was supposed to trigger when it opened in 2002.

LOCATION

[whatdoyouwantandwhy]

Interesting

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Great news for the east side! I wonder if the residential component will be gated (seems likely to me if the developers are out of Sugar Land).