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Weston Urban breaks ground on The Continental Block mixed-use district
SABJ
By James McCandless
A local developer's plans for a mixed-use block on downtown's western side got a little clearer last week.
Weston Urban held a groundbreaking event last week for The Continental Block, a district that will see the rehabilitation of The Continental Hotel building at 332 West Commerce St., rehabs of a few historic homes on site and the construction of a 16-story affordable apartment tower. All told, between the tower and the upper floors of the hotel building, 318 apartment units are scheduled to come online in 2025.
The ground floor of the former hotel will convert to retail. The Arana building will be reworked for office and retail uses, while the De La Garza House will be rehabbed and turned over to Bexar County.
The company struck a partnership with Bexar County's public facility corporation, which requires it to offer at least 116 apartments at 80% area median income (AMI) or lower. 50% of the units will be market rate, another 40% have been earmarked at 80% AMI and the remaining 10% will be offered at 60% AMI.
Work officially began on site in August, but the firm gathered associates, investors, downtown developers, media and others inside the first floor of The Continental Hotel building to showcase the work that has been done so far and outline its vision for the road ahead.
Speaking before the crowd, Weston Urban CEO Randy Smith said the event was organized to share his appreciation for the historical significance of the property as it undergoes its transformation.
"These are amazing buildings, and they were absolutely crumbling," Smith said. "These things were not in a good spot, and it takes a whole team to reverse that course and to get them ready for the next 100 years."
He also thanked a number of companies providing capital to the project, including Independent Financial, Blueprint Financial and Amegy Bank.
Answering media questions after his remarks, Smith said the firm will apply for federal historic tax credits for the Continental Hotel's refurbishment, but will forego state housing tax credits for the apartment tower.
Asked who the firm's targeting to tenant the apartments, he pointed to its proximity to UTSA's downtown campus, but added that the site isn't just for students.
"We are absolutely targeting UTSA students both at the school of data science and the coming college of business expansion," he said. "It's our hope that it will run the gamut from folks that will want to live in a great spot downtown, to folks that want to walk across the street to their classroom, to someone that works downtown. We hope it's a whole freaking mixed bag."
Smith added he's not troubled by the multitude of financial firms that are contributing to the project. He said it helps improve the city's station in the eyes of institutional investors.
"A lot of developers in my position would be super bummed out to have like eight capital partners," Smith said. "That's just not who we are. And the upshot of that is: Most of the folks that are our partners on this project, this is their first experience in San Antonio. So days like today we have a chance to show them what our community is about. Then as this project delivers and performs, I believe it will be a feather in the cap of our market for attracting outside investment."
A name for the apartment tower has yet to be finalized. Minneapolis-based BKV Group is designing the tower while Alamo Architects helms the historic portions. Troy M. Jesse Construction LP is the general contractor on the historic renovation side, while Rogers-O'Brien handles the tower construction.
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