San Antonio panel approves plans for apartments, retail for Hemisfair and Southtown
Two projects that would add more housing, retail space and parking in San Antonio's urban core are moving forward.
The city's Historic and Design Review Commission gave initial approval Wednesday to Oxbow Development Group's plans for about 250 apartments, 40,000 square feet of retail space and a parking garage across five buildings in Southtown. Oxbow, the real estate development arm of Pearl owner Silver Venture, would build the project along East César E. Chávez Boulevard at Lavaca and Matagorda streets.
The firm wants to deconstruct a historic house that was once a mansion where the prominent Muench family lived and rebuild it at the corner of Matagorda and Lavaca streets.
The San Antonio Independent School District plastered the house and removed the balcony, porch and roof in the 1950s, Oxbow director of development Omar Gonzalez said recently. The plaster damaged the brick exterior, but some interior bricks were protected and would be used to rebuild the house, he said.
Another historic building on the property was a firehouse and stable before it was converted in 1878 to a school known as the Fourth Ward School and Lamar School and later became offices for SAISD. Oxbow has not yet determined its plans for either building.
The firm must return to the commission for final approval at a later date.
The panel also gave the final green light to Trube Corp. and Post Lake Capital Partners' scaled-down proposal for a 10-story building with 304 apartments, retail space and parking and an adjacent three-story building with retail space at Hemisfair, near where Oxbow's project is planned.
In a voicemail played during the commission meeting, a representative of the Conservation Society of San Antonio said the organization "continues to be concerned" about the "clumsy" and "plain" design of the residential building at the prominent intersection of East Market and South Alamo streets. It does not "reflect the rich architectural and cultural legacy of downtown San Antonio," the representative said.
A commissioner echoed the Conservation Society's sentiments, comparing the design to "early '90s East Berlin."
Trube and Post Lake initially proposed constructing a 29-story building with about 350 apartments but later reduced the size of the project due to financing difficulties, said Mike Breclaw, principal and design director at FitzGerald Associates Architects, which designed the proposal. The firm changed the layout and parking, added balconies to apartments facing the park and focused on masonry, stone and stucco detailing, Breclaw told commissioners.
"As architects, we work with sort of trying to balance that building in the context of the other buildings around it," Breclaw said.
The apartments are named Santa Rita after St. Rita of Cascia, the patron saint of impossible causes.
Trube's project is part of a bigger, long-delayed development surrounding the 9-acre Civic Park and spearheaded by Zachry Corp., which is constructing a 200-room hotel that is expected to open in 2026.
Developer David Adelman's Area Real Estate was to build apartments and retail space along Alamo Street as part of the project, but the firm scrapped the proposal earlier this year. Adelman declined to comment, but Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corp. CEO Andres Andujar attributed the decision to financing problems. It's unclear what will happen to the property where Area Real Estate's project was planned.
"I am thrilled to be a part of the transformation happening at Hemisfair," John Trube, founder of Trube Corp., said in a statement. "We believe the Santa Rita will be a vital addition to Hemisfair, bringing new life to the heart of the city."
This story was originally published October 16, 2024, 6:47 PM.
