Quote:
Originally Posted by miaht82
Not disagreeing with you, just adding to the dialogue.
And with that dialogue, I have questions of my own:
Is this a private development or a public project?
As far as diversity, there is plenty around there; Pig Stand, Timbo's, Sam's Burger Joint, a couple of Mexican food places, and if you don't like those, there are a few other places on St. Mary's.
I see what you're saying about the current tenants; however, which one is it: do locals want a new place to eat? or a place to work? Which would help the neighboring communities out more? Who'd be more likely to live nearby? A couple eating there once a month? or a couple of employees that work there 5-6 days a week?
I can't comment too much on it possibly raising property values, none of us know that impact yet and the living spaces are not that much higher than market value; all 8 of them. Personally, I think that any kind of rail transit on Broadway will have a bigger impact on property values than this will.
They may have been trying to satisfy too many people in the beginning, but I don't think that it is up to one project to satisfy all. There is plenty of room for additional develompent along Broadway and there's no telling what that may bring. You can't judge an entire neighborhood for one project; there is a place for everything in the larger picture.
This is only the start, and although you may think it is "inorganic" the rest of the neighboring properties and develompents that pop up afterwards will be organic (unless every single property within a mile radius is bought up by Silver Ventures/Rio Perla.) And then, we will have diversity.
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Man, that is an excellent, excellent response to a really thick-headed post by arhavel. To address that post directly:
First, the Pearl project has been quite open to the community about their plans. They've provided very clear information about the project since they announced it (many years ago). One of the great things about this project is that they've wanted it to develop "organically", without being constrained by a rigid, inflexible plan that couldn't respond sensibly as the project developed over time. There's nothing "secretive" about its evolution. Rather, the Pearl is doing just that - evolving as it develops.
But really, Silver has no obligation to 'community involvement'. Silver has done bold work and committed massive financial resources to build this project thus far. There's not a single company (or person) in this city who would have had the courage to take on a project like this. And, thus far, the results have been wonderful, particularly when contrasted with the condition of the site before Silver acquired it.
In that context, the idea that people with no financial stake in this project have the right to more 'involvement' is childish. And complaining about imagined defects (mostly relating to abstract concepts like 'diversity') of the most ambitious urban project in this city is, frankly, unproductive.
If it seems like Pearl is catering to 'one demographic', it's because new buildings (almost always) cost more money than purchasing old buildings. And retrofitting old buildings (almost always) costs more than new buildings. Good urbanism costs serious money; there's simply no way around that. Complaining that the retailers/tenants that have opened thus far are too expensive completely misses the point. When places like the Pearl are proven to be viable (for residents, office tenants, and retail business owners), they will attract more residents, and more office tenants, and more retail business owners. This is precisely how great neighborhoods grow. If you want good urbanism in San Antonio, you should be cheering for these retailers to succeed, even if you think Melissa Guerra wants too much money for a spatula (I love and support that store, just to be clear).
By the way, you can get a killer pizza at Sogno for $6 and a bowl of awesome clam chowder at Sandbar for $7. And, as Miaht82 pointed out, there are plenty of burger & taco joints within walking distance (and you're not really suggesting SA doesn't have enough tacquerias and burger joints, are you?).
If you don't think Pearl has "children, teenagers, or older people" in mind, you've obviously not spent much time around the project (a visit to any Saturday Farmer's Market should correct this). And you're worried about "surrounding property rates"? Seriously? Have you walked around the area and seen the condition of the adjacent and nearby properties? And you're criticizing what Silver is doing at the Pearl? Seriously??? A quick walk by the Valero at Josephine/Broadway or the Alamo Motor Lodge should remedy that.
If you're truly trying to ask "what the implications are" for the type of development underway at Pearl (though I don't think you are), it's a simple answer: the implications of the Pearl development is that 22 acres of inactive industrial land is now home to a world-renowned culinary school, a 10,000 sf Aveda institute, 3 new restaurants, 11 apartments, a 500-person events center, and 50,000 sf of office space, and the first serious farmer's market in our city. And that's just in the first 5 years.
I think it's obvious that the Pearl has given us ample reason to be excited about (as opposed to apprehensive of) what comes next.
Chad.
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