27-Story W Hotel for Downtown SA. (Houston, Dallas: real estate, condominiums, how much)

[cooter1869]

I'm sure the city can support a W Hotel. I work in Hospitality Management at a Major Hotel downtown. I know, the ins and outs of the industry. The proposed location is in the perfect spot for this industry concept. In fact, it is kind of the 'hip' thing in hotel designs now to have this 'ultra-modern' style. In San Antonio, you can compare it to Hotel Valencia on Houston Street.

[case44]

Originally Posted by infinity & beyond

I went to Uptown in Dallas and stayed and partied at the W Hotel/Residences there. It was a fantastic, futuristic structure with sharp angles and modern everything. The residences are available for purchase or lease and start at $4,000 a month.

When I heard that, I knew there was no way we'd be getting a W Hotel. There's simply not a market in this city for that kind of living style, and certainly not at that price point.

In fact, even the hotel isn't exactly cheap - I think W bills itself as an upscale establishment.

I actually think it can work in San Antonio. Just not yet. Let's see what the next few years will bring in terms of business opportunities and demographics. It might not be that far off for SA. You can't rule anything out when you're seeing lofts being built in downtown SA, and that could lead to other things eventually.

[infinity & beyond]

I agree completely. Despite it's wealth and plethora of upscale residences and shops, Dallas, and specifically Uptown, was not ready for such high-end hotel/residences ten, even five years ago.

First, the money and wealth needs to be there. Second, there needs be a sizeable market of individuals who are interested in downtown living. And thirdly, this needs to be in place for a number of years, before San Antonio can get things like this.

[SAguy]

Guerilla- I went to Uptown in Dallas and stayed and partied at the W Hotel/Residences there. It was a fantastic, futuristic structure with sharp angles and modern everything. The residences are available for purchase or lease and start at $4,000 a month.

When I heard that, I knew there was no way we'd be getting a W Hotel. There's simply not a market in this city for that kind of living style, and certainly not at that price point.

Do you people know how much the new condos on Broadway, above the Grand Hyatt and others around town are going for? Those condos aren't going pennies....
So to say San Antonio can't afford is b/s.

[BenjaminNicholas]

I disagree. San Antonio's got MORE than enough fiscal wealth, from the inside and tourist income, to justify something like the Victory Park area of Dallas (where the new W is located).

Just look at the Alteza, going up now. It starts at nearly $500k and is selling briskly. The same can be said for the starting price of $400k at The Broadway. People here can, and will, pay these prices.

It's only those who say that 'San Antonio's not ready' that truly keep this city from fulfilled total potential. I'm not putting the cart before the horse on this one: SA is more than equipped for high-end living and retail. As with anything in life, you simply have to 'train' your audience into accepting what you put before them.

City council, along with the local media, need to quit painting this city as a quaint, cow-townish local. We're a major city. Let's start acting like it.



BN

[cooter1869]

Originally Posted by BenjaminNicholas

I disagree. San Antonio's got MORE than enough fiscal wealth, from the inside and tourist income, to justify something like the Victory Park area of Dallas (where the new W is located).

Just look at the Alteza, going up now. It starts at nearly $500k and is selling briskly. The same can be said for the starting price of $400k at The Broadway. People here can, and will, pay these prices.

It's only those who say that 'San Antonio's not ready' that truly keep this city from fulfilled total potential. I'm not putting the cart before the horse on this one: SA is more than equipped for high-end living and retail. As with anything in life, you simply have to 'train' your audience into accepting what you put before them.

City council, along with the local media, need to quit painting this city as a quaint, cow-townish local. We're a major city. Let's start acting like it.



BN

My only concern would be that there are TOO many condos going up. In the hotel biz, most hotel operators are concerned with the massive amount of hotels under construction, or about to start construction. The Grand Hyatt will add 1003 rooms, the JW Marriott Hill Country Resort will add another 1000 in 2009, and once the Gaylord La Cantera finishes its renovation, that property has the potential to add 1500 rooms! This isn't including the limited service hotels, such as Holiday Inns, Staybridge Suites, etc.

And I totally agree with you that the city government needs to move away from the "cookie-cutter, cow-town" image. Someone on this forum once called San Antonio "a big city that doesn't know that it is big." City council members, if you happen to be reading this, IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!

Sorry for the rant...

[BenjaminNicholas]

Hell, don't be sorry for the rant... Ranting is what inspires CHANGE. Something this city is in desperate need of.


Keep ranting. If city council weren't so self-absorbed and idiotic, they might actually read a board like this for inspiration.



BN

[infinity & beyond]

Originally Posted by SAguy

Do you people know how much the new condos on Broadway, above the Grand Hyatt and others around town are going for? Those condos aren't going pennies....
So to say San Antonio can't afford is b/s.

The Broadway hasn't even broken ground yet - it's nothing but a crane. Furthermore, Dallas probably has 200 highrise condos with prices above $400k, and these are not only concentrated in Uptown, but also parts of north Dallas, and even up to Plano.

It's not as though San Antonio has demonstrated that it can support such residences.

[Guerilla]

San Antonio has what? One maybe, two highrise condo towers going up in the core? That doesn't look like a very healthy condo highrise market.

[infinity & beyond]

Originally Posted by BenjaminNicholas

I disagree. San Antonio's got MORE than enough fiscal wealth, from the inside and tourist income, to justify something like the Victory Park area of Dallas (where the new W is located).

We've been over this many times before - San Antonio, for it's size is a financially poor city. If you don't think it is, clearly you haven't traveled very extensively.

There is absolutely no way San Antonio could support a Victory Park area with condos starting at $400k going all the way up to over $2 million. Not to mention all those expensive shops beneath it - San Antonio didn't even have an upscale shopping center (La Cantera) until 2005.

Let's not make assertions we know are clearly defy common sense.

Originally Posted by BenjaminNicholas

It's only those who say that 'San Antonio's not ready' that truly keep this city from fulfilled total potential. I'm not putting the cart before the horse on this one: SA is more than equipped for high-end living and retail. As with anything in life, you simply have to 'train' your audience into accepting what you put before them.

City council, along with the local media, need to quit painting this city as a quaint, cow-townish local. We're a major city. Let's start acting like it.

Individual assertions about a city's economic infrastructure are not what determines whether or not a city will get certain things. Population demographics do - the reality is that San Antonio has been slow to attract a number of high-end establishments, which has not been the case for Dallas or Houston.

An example is Eurway, which added a second location in far north Dallas before they came to San Antonio. Eurway is also in Austin and Houston, but clearly determined that the demographics of San Antonio were such that it wouldn't be successful.

Look, I'm not trying to bash San Antonio, I'm just being realistic. I've said before, referring to San Antonio as a "major" city is kind of doing it an injustice - while it may appear to be a major city on paper, it really is not. Only time will tell whether or not San Antonio will attract more business growth and development and become a hub of regional economic significance.