Investor and Developer's Guide to Downtown San Antonio
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Investor and Developer’s Guide to Downtown San Antonio 5 Major Areas Downtown River North Near East Side Core Downtown Southtown Blue Star/ King William ! 2 River North A new, hip area for San Antonio’s growing younger population is the River North area of the downtown district. Stretching approximately 3 miles along the Riverwalk, River North will add much needed renovations to the heart of San Antonio. Hixon Properties will be responsible for the addition of multi family complex River House, which will contain 260 units, a parking garage and interior courtyard. Each building is set to be 4-5 stories tall, further adding to the “downtown feel” of the area. To date, River House is the only apartment complex located on the water (Riverwalk). In addition, a mixed use development will be added by a joint venture from Canvender/ Hixon that will add a grocery tenant with the above units containing multi family and office. The Pearl Brewery 100 E. Grayson St, San Antonio TX 78215 Upon 118 years of beer brewing, The Pearl Brewery shut its doors in 1985. Fast forward to 2002, and the Pearl saw hopes of life once more. Plans began to take shape for the brewery to be repurposed into San Antonio’s latest mixed-use development. Boosting 26 acres, the Pearl is one of the largest developments in San Antonio’s downtown district, and still offers room to grow. Plans are in place for The Pearl to add on additional buildings for more retail and mixed-use units south of E. Locust St. The historic brewery is home to 18 restaurants, 13 retail shops, event venues and a culinary institute. In addition to retail, the Pearl offers 324 multi family units, bringing true meaning to the term “live, work, play”. Average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment at The Can Plant (multi family, part of The Pearl) will run about $1450/mon - $1.89 sf. 3 Blue Star Arts Complex 116 Blue Star, San Antonio, TX 78204 Blue Star/ King William Blue Star Arts Complex is similar to the Pearl in the sense that both mixed-use developments were birthed from abandoned warehouses. However, the vibe from being at Blue Star, part of the King William district, is one completely different compared to anywhere else in the city. First Friday, an open art gallery event, originated at Blue Star and remains one of the city’s most popular monthly happenings. Blue Star is home to some of the best visual art seen around the Alamo City inside the Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum. Additionally, the complex frequently hosts concerts and art showings apart from the museum. In 2010 the Eagleland Segment opened which then connected the King William district to Mission Reach, part of San Antonio’s River Improvement Project. Blue Star currently houses 7 restaurant/bars, 9 retail fronts, 9 art gallery/ studios and apartments. Lease space from 1,500- 5,000 sf is still available. 4 Cevallos Lofts 301 E Cevallos St, San Antonio, TX 78204 Southtown Southtown is about expression. Art. Food. Culture. The people make this neighborhood what it is and Cevallos Lofts is making it even better. These are San Antonio lofts the way you want them. Made from the city’s best urban neighborhood. Created entirely for you. The CL lets you live surrounded by the most modern in amenities and comforts while taking in all the art, food, music and enjoyment Southtown offers. There’s no other place in San Antonio like Southtown. And there are no Southtown apartment lofts and townhomes like those at the CL. Live the CL. 5 Federal Realty Portfolio/ Grey St Partners Houston St. Core Downtown Approximately 20 years ago a group out of Maryland (Federal Realty Investment Trust) purchased 7 Houston St properties in the heart of San Antonio’s downtown district. Among those properties are the Kress building and the Walgreens storefront, as well as the Vogue building both located on Houston St. Federal Realty oversaw all renovations and infrastructure improvements of all of their buildings with the exception of Kress. In 1998, the group purchased the Houston Street portfolio. It later partnered with the city of San Antonio to create the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), which funded $14.4 million in improvements, including the overhaul of the Presa Street Bridge near College Street and the courtyard between the Frost Bros. and Bennett buildings across from the Majestic Theatre. In 2001 it was reported that Federal Realty made a total investment of $100 million in their portfolio. Although the group made a return on the investment, the exact amount is unknown. Federal Realty has since sold the portfolio to Grey St Partners. Grey St will add an abundance of parking to San Antonio’s central downtown district with the recent acquisition of the portfolio. The group also plans to convert one of the buildings into loft style living quarters. 6 Frost Bank Tower Flores and Houston St. San Antonio TX 78205 Core Downtown What was once a dream for Graham Weston (Rackspace Chairman) became a feasible option on June 4, 2015 once San Antonio City Council approved the Frost Bank Tower deal. The building will be downtown’s first office tower to be built in more than 25 years. The city of San Antonio’s investment is more than $80 million - which will be paid for by using two debt issuances. For $51 million, the city will purchase the current Frost Bank headquarters at 100 W. Houston St. The city then will spend another $31 million to upgrade the building - replacing the HVAC and sprinkler systems, removing asbestos and converting office space from cubicles to an open format. Weston Urban, the real estate company backed by Graham Weston, will build a $142 million, 400,000-square-foot office tower on Frost’s motor bank and parking lot diagonally across from its current headquarters. That new building, the height of which is not determined, will serve as Frost’s new headquarters. Frost will occupy 250,000 square feet of the building, leaving the rest available for rent. Weston Urban also will build at least 265 residential units on properties it will acquire from the city and Frost. Those properties include the Municipal Plaza Building, 114 W. Commerce St.; the San Fernando gym, 319 W. Travis St.; and a parking lot at 403 N. Flores St.. The goal of the new building is to bring a creative and entrepreneurship sense of synergy to San Antonio’s downtown district. 7 San Pedro Creek West Side of Core Downtown District Core Downtown Often confused with a drainage ditch, San Pedro Creek is functional, but less than easy on the eyes. In hopes of revitalizing the appeal of the western corridor of the city’s downtown district, Bexar County and the San Antonio River Authority are working in conjunction with the City of San Antonio to redevelop the 3.82 mile creek. Plans for the creek began to take shape in 2013. $125 million was allocated to improvements and preliminary engineering reports were complete. The design phase will run from Feb 2014- March 2016, with 70% due Aug 2015. Construction is expected to start Jan 2016, with completion in May of 2018. Pedestrian walkways, jogging trails, playgrounds and improved landscape are expected to be added along with parking. Once finished, San Pedro Creek will serve not only as a new source of entertainment but also as a historic focal point. For more: https://youtu.be/Nhdr2Rv3CjA 8 HemisFair Park 434 S Alamo St, San Antonio, TX 78205 Core Downtown Serving as one of the city’s largest and oldest parks, HemisFair is overdue for a facelift. Since it’s construction in 1968 for the World’s Fair, the future for HemisFair Park has been a hot topic for city officials. In 2009 City Council was finally able to form a redevelopment group for the park, then gathering $30 million worth of bonds for the project in 2012. Plans for 4-acre Yanaguana Garden, the first of three phases for the park, were unveiled in November of 2013. Yanaguana Garden is expected to see completion by the end of 2015. The garden will feature an innovative play area for children, a life sized chessboard and fountain, along with retail shops that cater to all age demographics. There are four initial tenants for Yanaguana Garden. The first tenant, Con Safos, will offer local/ Mexican cuisine. The owner of La Gran Michoacana will bring a paleta shop to the park. Revolucion Coffee + Juice will offer their homemade drinks to the park. Lastly, San Antonio Brewing Co. will serve home-brewed beer and German dishes aimed at adults. All tenants will sell their goods at an affordable price, not wanting to lose business to nearby restaurants outside of the garden. The garden’s three-year lease agreement was only offered to local businesses, and at a low percentage rate of less than 10% going back to Yanaguana to be reinvested. The second phase of the HemisFair development will be the 15-acre Civic Park, located in the northwest quadrant of the park. The idea is for Civic Park to be less of a play area, and more of a meeting center. Civic Park is set to include a garden, wading pool and 2,000-seat amphitheater, all expected to see completion in 2018. The final phase for HemisFair Park will be titled Tower Park, a 5-acre area located under the Tower of the Americas. Designs for Tower Park will not be finished until the previous two phases see completion, expected to occur around 2020.