SAN ANTONIO | 1031 Navarro St. | Mixed-Use | 325 FEET | 30 FLOORS | Proposed

[babysal]

Good find Rynetwo....exciting


San Antonio Business Journal
By Mitchell Parton – Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal

Downtown San Antonio appears to be getting another high-rise hotel and condo tower.

Miguel Saldana, senior associate for local firm B&A Architects, submitted site plans and conceptual renderings on July 16 for a 30-story project at the former WOAI-TV studio at 1031 Navarro St. to the Office of Historic Preservation for approval by the Historic and Design Review Commission.

Under the submitted plans, the first two floors of the building with elements of the current structure on site would be common areas and back-of-house space for the hotel. The third through fifth levels would house an automated parking garage, one of the first downtown after the automated garage at the 16-story Floodgate tower being constructed at 139 E. Commerce St.

Condominiums would take up levels 6 to 10, with floors 11 to 28 being both hotel and condo units. The 29th floor would include a roof deck and hotel space. The top floors of the tower would include common spaces, an amenity deck and equipment penthouses.

The project would include restoring the north and west facades, "repairing the historic fabric with like materials," according to a conceptual project description submitted to the OHP. It also would include demolishing a portion of the building as well as a secondary building at the east property boundary and the broadcast antenna.


The tower would connect to the River Walk through a ramp element at the southwest corner of the site. Vehicle traffic would be routed through Auditorium Circle.

Attempts to reach the architect were unsuccessful. It is unclear who is developing the property.

The property is still owned by an affiliate of the Maryland-based Sinclair Broadcast Group — owner of WOAI-TV, the local NBC affiliate — according to the Bexar County Appraisal District. The station moved its operations to a facility near the intersection of Babcock Road and Loop 410 in 2013 when it merged operations with KABB, also owned by Sinclair, the Express-News reported at the time.

Though 10 stories taller, the hotel/condo combination bears close resemblance to the Thompson Hotel and The Arts Residences, a 20-story tower at 101 Lexington Ave. recently completed by Houston firm DC Partners.

That project's 59 luxury condo units — initially seen as a gamble by the developer — quickly attracted many local buyers interested in downsizing to a home with low maintenance, or in a second property. The units were originally advertised with prices from the mid-$400,000s to more than $4 million.

"This sort of hotel/condo combo, which is very popular all over the country, even all over the world, I think will be will be a big win for future projects," said J Kuper, principal broker for The Arts' listing brokerage Kuper Sotheby's International Realty, back in January. "I can project that there will be more of those coming forward, because we're still a hospitality-driven economy in San Antonio."

The Navarro St. project is one of several towering residential developments announced for downtown. Just yesterday, the Business Journal reported that Weston Urban has proposed a 15-story apartment tower on the former Continental Hotel site. That same developer has also proposed a 32-story apartment tower at 305 Soledad St.

[JRG1974]

Didn't know this would get it's own thread that fast. I will move my comments here.

Originally Posted by Rynetwo

30-story tower eyed on site of former broadcast studio

https://www.bizjournals.com/sananton...st-studio.html

I just saw this earlier as well. This sounds like a nice project.

The article provides a link to the site plans and conceptual drawings. I assume that they will add more to this before final approval.

Here is the link:
https://gis.sanantonio.gov/OHPSystem...E8EC33974FF%7D

It breaks down to the following configuration.

The first two floors of the building with elements of the current structure on site would be common areas and back-of-house space for the hotel.

The third through fifth levels would house an automated parking garage, one of the first downtown after the automated garage at the 16-story Floodgate tower being constructed at 139 E. Commerce St.

Condominiums would take up levels 6 to 10, with floors 11 to 28 being both hotel and condo units.

The 29th floor would include a roof deck and hotel space. The top floors of the tower would include common spaces, an amenity deck and equipment penthouses.

There is no timeline mentioned in the article. This would be a nice addition to the area along with the Soledad Apartments and the Dream Hotel.

[sirkingwilliam]

Considering the look of the building and location, could very well be another DC Partners project.

[jkill34]

The Arts district could really turn into a huge residential attraction if this happens. Let's hope it does!

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Interesting. Looks like they're keeping the historic brick facade that's underneath that midcentury cladding. Kinda just assumed whoever bought it was just going to bulldoze the whole thing since there was a fire there several years ago and has been abandoned since.

Also, is it common to have hotel rooms on the same floor as hotel rooms? I know next to nothing about the world of high rise living, but that seems odd to me. Maybe they're aiming sales towards AirBnB operators? Or just folks who want a pied a terre on the riverwalk for some reason (and therefore might dig the fancy hotel vibe)?

Edit: Also I wonder how many units? The article doesn't say. Hard to tell, but the mixed condo-hotel floors maybe have 2 condo units per floor and the rest are hotel rooms. So that's 34 "mixed" units and then there's 50 on the condo-only floors by my count. So 84-ish total?

[JRG1974]

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

Considering the look of the building and location, could very well be another DC Partners project.

The article mentioned that it bears a close resemblance to the Thompson Hotel, but I don't really see the resemblance. The project that comes to mind when I look at it is the Hotel Sul Fiume.

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Interesting. Looks like they're keeping the historic brick facade that's underneath that midcentury cladding.

Oh, I didn't know there's an old building under that ugly skin. Exciting!

Also, is it common to have hotel rooms on the same floor as hotel rooms?

Yes!

I'm surprised that there's so little interaction between this building and the riverwalk. They're putting a driveway between the two? With a ramp down to the river level?

[N8TVTXN]

I really hope that this is nothing more than a preliminary rendering because if the final building looks like this, it is absolutely horrific. There is nothing distinctive about this building that makes you want to consider living there. It is reminiscent of a communist-style building. Again, a local architecture firm that brings absolutely zero style and thought to San Antonio.

[Rynetwo]

Originally Posted by N8TVTXN

I really hope that this is nothing more than a preliminary rendering because if the final building looks like this, it is absolutely horrific. There is nothing distinctive about this building that makes you want to consider living there. It is reminiscent of a communist-style building. Again, a local architecture firm that brings absolutely zero style and thought to San Antonio.

I’m pretty sure this is for massing and general style.

[KevinFromTexas]

I didn't realize the tv station wasn't using that building anymore. They were still there the last time I went by it, granted, that was in 2019. With the tv station out and this tower occupying the site, I guess that means the tv tower will be removed? They likely won't be able to implode it, so it'll have to be deconstructed first. That should be an interesting process.

The building elevation shows this at 325 feet, which would make it taller than The Arts Residences at the Thompson Hotel, and it would be the 8th tallest in San Antonio.

[kingkirbythe....]

Yeah, hopefully this is just a generic place holder design.

[theOGalexd]

at this rate, river north/lower broadway is becoming our version of uptown dallas. nice to see more high rise development happening!

[starvinggryphon]

Originally Posted by JRG1974

The article mentioned that it looked like the Thompson Hotel, but I don't really see the resemblance. The project that comes to mind when I look at it is the Hotel Sul Fiume.

Maybe they meant that it would resemble it in height... it's only about 10 feet taller than it's 20 story neighbor even though it's 30 stories.

[N8TVTXN]

The article was trying to convey that this project is similar to the Thompson in that there is a hotel and condos, not that the projects will look similar.

[JRG1974]

Originally Posted by N8TVTXN

The article was trying to convey that this project is similar to the Thompson in that there is a hotel and condos, not that the projects will look similar.

The article states "Though 10 stories taller, the hotel/condo combination bears close resemblance to the Thompson Hotel and The Arts Residences".

I typically use the word resemblance to talk about looks. When someone says Tom has a strong resemblance to his cousin, they are usually not saying that they have similar careers. They usually meaning they look similar to each other.

In the quote I used from sirkingwilliam, he states, "Considering the look of the building and location". Again the word "look".

I'm just saying that if we are talking about looks, then I would not agree that they look similar. If we are talking about function, then I would completely agree that they are cut from the same cloth.

I am sure that there is more to come on the design of this building I am looking forward to seeing a more mature design.

Overall, it is nice to have something new to talk about on the San Antonio thread, and something that will be adding some more height to downtown.

[KevinFromTexas]

I have to admit, it did remind me of the Thompson, but then again, that's mostly because of the large window bays and masculine bulk. If that's the qualifier, then you could also add the Marriott Riverwalk, the Hilton Paseo del Rio, and Hyatt Regency to the list since they're also pretty bulky and have large window bays. The color of all of these is pretty similar, too.

[jaga185]

The external design may be lacking. But don't hate the shape. I'm glad it's not another rectangular wall, where there is just a wall and then it's skinny on two other sides. It's more of a block.

[texboy]

Originally Posted by jaga185

The external design may be lacking. But don't hate the shape. I'm glad it's not another rectangular wall, where there is just a wall and then it's skinny on two other sides. It's more of a block.

This also looks very preliminary in terms of design, imo. Maybe I'm wrong, but I hope I'm right.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Well, for one, we have no idea what the exterior materials are. So I think we should withhold judgement for now...

[Sadsalmon]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Well, for one, we have no idea what the exterior materials are. So I think we should withhold judgement for now...

Completely agree. This is just a massing model.