SAN ANTONIO │ UTSA Development and Construction Thread

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by Spoiler

Are you not yet aware of The Phil Collins Collection? It's been the impetus for the whole Alamo Plaza redevelopment.

I live in Beantown. I've been back to SA a lot lately, but I don't get the local news (except from youse guys... thanks.)

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

And why on earth would they put the garage on the side facing the mall and closest to the Alamo entrance? The garage and museum should switch places. In fact, the museum should wrap around the garage as in so many 5-over-1 apartment buildings.

They are putting the garage there because there is already a garage entrance there. It makes the most sense to have it on that street and move cars in and out of that area which already has them. I think this design is the best solution regarding what is given.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by jaga185

They are putting the garage there because there is already a garage entrance there. It makes the most sense to have it on that street and move cars in and out of that area which already has them. I think this design is the best solution regarding what is given.

You mean the Rivercenter Mall? Good point.

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

I live in Beantown. I've been back to SA a lot lately, but I don't get the local news (except from youse guys... thanks.)

How dare you live outside my bubble.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by Spoiler

How dare you live outside my bubble.

[Spoiler]

UTSA to buy property next to School of Data Science downtown from GrayStreet

https://www.expressnews.com/business...vmgKS5Ig5WEu5x


The University of Texas as San Antonio wants to buy a cluster of dilapidated buildings and parking spaces next to its School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center as it seeks to expand its holdings downtown and draw more students to its technology programs there.

The university would buy the 1.5-acre property along South Flores Street between Nueva and Dolorosa streets from a company affiliated with San Antonio firm GrayStreet Partners.

The UT Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Thursday morning on authorizing the acquisition, which encompasses buildings totaling 68,500 square feet, including one that was once Kallison’s Western Wear, and a parking lot with 125 spaces.


It fits with UTSA leaders’ aim to have 10,000 students living, attending classes and conducting research across the roughly 32 acres that the university owns downtown by 2028, said Corrina Green, UTSA’s associate vice president of real estate, construction and planning.

“Having the opportunity to acquire the remaining portion of that entire block was very attractive to us,” Green said. “It makes sense as a real estate transaction, but it really helps us with our goals as we look at expanding our footprints around all three of our campuses downtown.”

It’s unclear what the university would pay for GrayStreet’s property, which the Bexar Appraisal District values at $7.7 million. The price is not to exceed fair market value as determined by an independent appraisal, the Board of Regents’ agenda states. Green said a price has not been determined....

The buildings to be bought carry a local historic designation, though as a state entity UTSA is not subject to local jurisdictions. Green said the university is still researching and assessing the buildings, which are in poor condition, and considering whether the facades could be preserved and maintained.

UTSA has not made plans for the site, other than to use it as public parking for now, Green said. The transaction is expected to close in several months....

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by Spoiler

UTSA to buy property next to School of Data Science downtown from GrayStreet

https://www.expressnews.com/business...vmgKS5Ig5WEu5x


The University of Texas as San Antonio wants to buy a cluster of dilapidated buildings and parking spaces next to its School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center as it seeks to expand its holdings downtown and draw more students to its technology programs there.

The university would buy the 1.5-acre property along South Flores Street between Nueva and Dolorosa streets from a company affiliated with San Antonio firm GrayStreet Partners.

The UT Board of Regents is scheduled to vote Thursday morning on authorizing the acquisition, which encompasses buildings totaling 68,500 square feet, including one that was once Kallison’s Western Wear, and a parking lot with 125 spaces.


It fits with UTSA leaders’ aim to have 10,000 students living, attending classes and conducting research across the roughly 32 acres that the university owns downtown by 2028, said Corrina Green, UTSA’s associate vice president of real estate, construction and planning.

“Having the opportunity to acquire the remaining portion of that entire block was very attractive to us,” Green said. “It makes sense as a real estate transaction, but it really helps us with our goals as we look at expanding our footprints around all three of our campuses downtown.”

It’s unclear what the university would pay for GrayStreet’s property, which the Bexar Appraisal District values at $7.7 million. The price is not to exceed fair market value as determined by an independent appraisal, the Board of Regents’ agenda states. Green said a price has not been determined....

The buildings to be bought carry a local historic designation, though as a state entity UTSA is not subject to local jurisdictions. Green said the university is still researching and assessing the buildings, which are in poor condition, and considering whether the facades could be preserved and maintained.

UTSA has not made plans for the site, other than to use it as public parking for now, Green said. The transaction is expected to close in several months....

The facades of those buildings are very cool and definitely worth preserving.

https://www.google.com/maps/@29.4241...8192?entry=ttu

[Keep-SA-Lame]

What fantastic news. I'm sure it will be a while before anything happens since these buildings weren't originally part of their master plan for the downtown campus, but it's great UTSA just keeps pushing further east into the core.

It truly is wild how UTSA gone from barely having like a few architecture classes at its ignored downtown campus to being maybe the biggest player in downtown revitalization right now. Good for them, imo this is by far the most important thing happening for bringing locals back downtown.

[wwmiv]

Those facades are wonderful historic fine grained urbanism and should not be razed for a parking lot. Sorry, but I am not buying that they are in bad shape and that preserving them would be difficult—sounds lime developer-speak to me because they look like they’re in perfectly preservable shape.

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

Those facades are wonderful historic fine grained urbanism and should not be razed for a parking lot. Sorry, but I am not buying that they are in bad shape and that preserving them would be difficult—sounds lime developer-speak to me because they look like they’re in perfectly preservable shape.

[wwmiv]

Like**** not lime. Oops.

[SpiritofSeguin]

Beautiful day to be a high-rise!

[The Model]

[IMG]UTSA San Pedro II Construction by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]

[The Model]

[IMG]San Pedro Creek with UTSA Construction by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]

[jaga185]

^^^ this photo is so gorgeous

[Spoiler]

I'm starting to think UTSA is serious about this whole downtown thing.

https://sanantonioreport.org/usaa-ut...lk-place-sale/

"UTSA announced Friday that it plans to purchase an 18-story office building to expand its growing footprint in downtown San Antonio.

The university has signed a letter of intent to buy One Riverwalk Place, a towering building formerly occupied by USAA and other tenants, and owned by Affinius Capital and Patrinely.

Located at 700 N. St. Mary’s St., the building is adjacent to the UTSA Southwest Campus, formerly the Southwest School of Art, which was acquired by the university in 2022.

In a statement describing its plans to acquire the building, university officials said it is part of UTSA’s 10-year phased approach “to accelerate the development of its downtown campus in order to promote workforce development and prepare career-ready graduates in San Antonio’s urban core.”"

My only concern is that this might further slow the development of their campus west of the freeway. That area could really use more UTSA.

[chancla]

This is great news for downtown. Rather than an empty building, we have a tenant that has deep pockets and WANTS to be downtown. And plenty of staff and students who will help populate the city center. Fantastic.

[Spoiler]

[babysal]

UT Regents approve merging UTSA and UT Health San Antonio into a ‘premier global university’

By Scott Huddleston,
Staff writer SAEN
Aug 22, 2024

Officials call timing right to integrate university and health science center into a Texas ‘powerhouse’ in nation’s seventh largest city.

The newly enlarged university will have about 40,000 students, nearly 16,000 employees, six campuses, a $2.2 billion budget, a $1.1 billion endowment and more than $6 billion in direct annual economic impact, officials said.

https://www.expressnews.com/news/edu...r-19666971.php

[chancla]

Originally Posted by babysal

UT Regents approve merging UTSA and UT Health San Antonio into a ‘premier global university’

https://www.expressnews.com/news/edu...r-19666971.php

This is such a no-brainer move, you wonder why it took them so long.