Posted Feb 11, 2016, 3:16 AM
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Weapon of Mass Creation
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: San Antonio
Posts: 299
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Quote:
A 30-story luxury apartment tower is planned along the River Walk, giving San Antonio one of its biggest triumphs so far in its 5-year-old Decade of Downtown initiative to revive the city’s center.
Dallas-based JMJ Development LLC plans to break ground this summer on the tower, named JMJ Towers River Walk, which is expected to cost more than $50 million and take about 2½ years to finish, said Tim Barton, chief executive of the real estate firm.
The development, on Villita Street across from the Riverwalk Plaza Hotel & Suites, will have 201 luxury apartments, upscale restaurants and retail space, according to a news release from JMJ.
Barton said the firm considered building a hotel there but decided on apartments after perceiving “pent-up demand” among both baby boomers who crave a more urban lifestyle after raising their kids as well as millennials who don’t want to commit to buying homes.
“San Antonio doesn’t have any high-rise products or lifestyle products, so we feel it’s a great opportunity,” Barton said in an interview. “There’s still growth in the market as people start to do better and better.”
The building will likely have a stone facade on the street level to blend with the local architecture, while the higher floors will have a more modern, glassy design, Barton said. JMJ and city officials are still working out the design, he said.
“The skyline of San Antonio is truly unique — we want more of that,” said District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño, whose district would include the tower.
The tower would remold San Antonio’s skyline, which has been stagnant since the Grand Hyatt San Antonio opened in 2008. Only three buildings in the city would be taller: the 38-story Marriott Rivercenter, the 34-story Grand Hyatt and the 32-story Weston Centre. It will be as high as the Tower Life Building and the San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk.
News of the tower comes a week after the Historic and Design Review Commission gave conditional approval for a 24-story boutique Hilton hotel a few blocks away. The city recently finished a $325 million expansion of the Convention Center which they expect to serve as a springboard for downtown redevelopment.
Other new building projects are in the works for downtown. Last spring, the city reached a deal with Weston Urban and Frost Bank to build the first new office tower downtown in more than 25 years. Another project would add 41 apartment units to the downtown Aztec building. City Council also recently approved a 163-unit apartment complex for Hemisfair.
The JMJ apartment tower project shows that “San Antonio is on the map for residential development, and in the heart of downtown,” said Pat DiGiovanni, president and CEO of Centro San Antonio. “We have not seen anything to this degree in a long time, so this is welcome news.”
The project is likely to draw close scrutiny due to its size and its location along the River Walk, DiGiovanni added.
JMJ is working on a deal to buy the 0.35-acre property, which doesn’t have historical designation and has been vacant for some time, Barton said. The apartments will be a mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, with top floor penthouse suites, a fitness area and a swimming pool. The units will rent from around $1,500 to $3,000 a month, he said.
The firm plans to ask for incentives under the city’s Center City Housing Incentive Policy — adopted in 2012 as part of the Decade of Downtown — which includes property tax rebates for up to 15 years, SAWS and city fee waivers, and low-interest loans.
One of Treviño’s concerns is whether the tower will include affordable housing. Barton said he’s been talking with city officials about including lower-cost units.
“We want to create places where everybody can afford to live,” Treviño said. “I think that is going to be part of what we’re looking at — can we explore getting some affordable spaces in this project?”
The tower will be JMJ’s second project in the San Antonio area. In 2008, it began construction on Kings Gate, a $25 million, 870-acre gated community in Medina County. Barton said his firm is “studying” other potential sites in San Antonio.
JMJ has also built master-planned communities in Nashville and Frisco, north of Dallas, according to its website. It has developed projects outside of the U.S., such as the Rosewood Mayakoba resort in Riviera Maya, Mexico, and the Rosewood Dubai hotel in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
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Last edited by sirkingwilliam; Feb 11, 2016 at 3:25 AM.
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