New San Antonio Downtown (Center, Santa Rosa: university, residential, offices)

[tgannaway89]

Originally Posted by 210

U/C/Proposed:

Grant Hyatt
Vidorra I
Courtyard by Marriott
The Vistana
Rio Plaza
W Hotel
Piazza San Lorenzo
Rivercenter Mall Hotel
Staybridge Hotel
Vidorra II
Embassy Suites
Aloft
120 Villita Street

There's more I'm missing.

Just wanted to show how many never got built. Aloft, Embassy, and Courtyard are still in progress. Vidorra II and Rivercenter hotel may possibly be built in the future. And this was back when rumors of a possible new AT&T hq surfaced.

[BenjaminNicholas]

aLoft is quite in-progress. It should compliment their airport location nicely, but I would have rather seen a true W go into that spot on Houston.

The W is taking a smaller spot on Houston, across from Bromley, in the for-pay parking lot. It's a small footprint for a hotel, but if they build it anything like their Dallas location, it should work well.

Rivercenter is starting to go through their massive re-development and with that, I hope they can control the amount of idiotic kids who hang around the property all day and night. Rumor has it that they might be tearing out the parking garage and in-dealings with Four Seasons for a property in that spot. I'd be perfectly happy for that to happen, as long as it's not another extended-stay hotel going up. What SA needs are more luxury hotels to attract a bigger, better kind of tourist. The economy may be tanking a bit, but trust that there is still a boatload of money out there waiting to be spent in cities like San Antonio.

The first new upscale tenant to open in RC will be Fogo (in July). From there, plans are to smoke the exterior glass darker, give it a more contemporary vibe and begin work on the stores within. I also know that they've now confirmed a Lucky Strike Lanes (a bar/bowling facility) within the redo of RC.


Good things continue to happen for downtown SA. Now all we need is a true grocery store




BN

[verybadgnome]

Originally Posted by pr57001

What I think is ironic about all of these discussion on this website and others, is that the biggest champions of these condo buildings (Austin too), don't and won't live in them. They just hope other people will.

I don't think that is true relating to Austin according to one of our preeminent growth experts, Charles Heimsath of Capital Market Research:

Of the 12 residential projects under construction in the area, seven of them are condo complexes. This may be the most active residential development time in downtown, but 93 percent of the condos built in the last year have been sold or are under contract, says Heimsath...........Sixty-eight percent of buyers are moving into the downtown area from another residence in Austin.

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://w...9FyhMmRfNgdnCQ

[lemonfresh]

Originally Posted by BenjaminNicholas

Rivercenter is starting to go through their massive re-development and with that, I hope they can control the amount of idiotic kids who hang around the property all day and night. Rumor has it that they might be tearing out the parking garage and in-dealings with Four Seasons for a property in that spot. I'd be perfectly happy for that to happen, as long as it's not another extended-stay hotel going up.

That makes sense. Speculation back when the redevelopment of RCM was announced the two names being thrown around where Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton for the hotel portion. Then it was said that when the upscale Elan development was announced that Ritz-Carlton wanted to the hotel operator for the development. It would seen that is how it'll play out. Four Seasons at Rivercenter Mall and the Ritz at Elan. Ironinclly, in the late 90's Ritz-Carlton signed up to build a hotel in the La Cantera area (either very near or exactly where current Elan development is being built) but then the developer of the project lost funding and the hotel was never built. I guess they really want to be in that area.

What SA needs are more luxury hotels to attract a bigger, better kind of tourist. The economy may be tanking a bit, but trust that there is still a boatload of money out there waiting to be spent in cities like San Antonio.

I agree and it's true. However, what keeps a lot of that from happening/getting built is the insane cost of land downtown. I'll get more into that later.

Good things continue to happen for downtown SA. Now all we need is a true grocery store

You're correct, good things are happening. However, imo, the residential revolution won't happen downtown but instead River North. What's keeping high rise residential living from downtown is the cost of land. It's out of this world high. A developer would have to build high and expensive in order to make profits. The River North has some very cheap land in comparison to downtown and now with the river walk extension, it's a high desirable place to live once the streets are fixed up and the housing is put into place. The street grid is there and much more blocky as opposed to downtown and it's curved streets everywhere layout.

Also, another thing keeping developers from building downtown is the red tape they go through with the HDRC. With River North and its form based zoning, they won't have to adhere to the HDRC.

Not to mention the street car planned to connect downtown with River North.

The River North area has all the makings for one bad ass urban neighborhood.

[DC4u]

Hence, why Kit Goldsbury is neck high in owning real estate along River North.
That's where all the money will head in the next decade.

[lemonfresh]

Are you sure he owns land in River North?

Here's a map detailing river walk adjacent ownership.

http://media.mysanantonio.com/images/20090517RiverNorthOwners.jpg (broken link)

Silver Ventures/Kit is number 4. Most of that is in the Pearl area which is outside River North. However, this is only River Walk adjacent property. Does Kit own a lot of land in River North that isn't adjacent to the River walk? If so, do you know which parcels? These questions are for my interest only.

[lemonfresh]

As you can see though, River North is big, real big!

[lemonfresh]

I realized I spelled Eilan incorrectly.

[DC4u]

I was speaking of his Pearl land, which officially may not be part of River North but still connects and will immensely benefit almost solely due to the expansion of the River Walk north.

[DC4u]

in response to does Kit own a lot of land in River North that isn't adjacent to the River walk? If so, do you know which parcels? These questions are for my interest only.

I can say that Silver Ventures continues to quietly buy properties that back up to the SA River North project.