San Antonio | Deep In The Heart.

[josh]

107-UNIT MICRO APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT PLANNED FOR RIVER NORTH

A 107-unit apartment project behind KLRN's offices on Broadway received the go-ahead from Bexar County commissioners for county staff to begin negotiations on a 10-year property tax abatement valued at $125,879.

Marketed as “micro apartments,” the majority of the units will be in the 525- to 625-square-foot range.

“We're tying to keep rents as close to $1,000 a month as we can,” said David Adelman of Area Real Estate LLC. “The 525-square-foot (units) will be right about $1,000, or a little less. The rents won't be set until we're open in a year.”

Some units will be as small as 382 square feet, while a handful of others will be just smaller than 1,000 square feet.

The $10 million project includes a parking structure on the former Spires-Douglas Buick dealership at 209 E. 6th Street, and building a five-story apartment building adjacent to it on the same block. The one-year construction period is expected to begin in September.

“It's a small boutique project, but it's going to be packing a lot of punch for the residents,” Adelman said. A residents-only bike shop is planned for inside the garage. A coffee shop open to the public will face McCullough Avenue and Avenue B. And residents will have access to a rooftop lounge and an internal courtyard with a pool and cooking area.

[JoninATX]

Nielsen to add more than 200 jobs in San Antonio

Nielsen to add more than 200 jobs in San Antonio - San Antonio Business Journal

[JoninATX]

IT immigrants building up S.A.'s 'Little India

IT immigrants building up S.A.'s 'Little India' - San Antonio Express-News

[josh]

OAKLAND RAIDERS OWNER IN TALKS WITH SAN ANTONIO TO RELOCATE NFL TEAM

Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis and two top lieutenants met recently with several San Antonio officials to discuss the potential of moving his NFL team from the Bay Area to the Alamo City, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed.

On July 18, Davis met with the officials, including Henry Cisneros, then-Mayor Julián Castro, City Manager Sheryl Sculley, Mario Hernandez of the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, and both Richard Perez and David McGee, the president and chairman of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, respectively.

Davis and his associates reportedly spent two or three days here, visiting the Alamodome and other places. They also took an aerial tour of the city in a helicopter, arranged by developer Marty Wender.

If the Raiders moved here, though, Davis is expected to seek a new stadium within a few years, after the team had proved itself in the Alamo City.

Davis told San Antonio civic and business leaders he isn't seeking a “Jerry Jones-type facility” and prefers “a small, intimate” stadium that he can place “a statue of his father in front of,” a source said.

[josh]

AT&T CHOOSES SAN ANTONIO FOR GIGAPOWER

AT&T announced Tuesday that it will introduce its GigaPower network to the San Antonio market — capable of downloading 25 songs in one second, a TV show in three seconds and an HD online movie in 36 seconds — though the company did not provide a timetable for the roll-out.

The service also allows customers to watch and record five simultaneous HD streams.

“AT&T's investment will deliver some of the fastest broadband Internet speeds our city has ever seen, helping spur economic growth across the city,” Mayor Ivy Taylor said in a statement. “When local governments and the private sector work together, consumers and businesses win.”

Availability and pricing of the service in the San Antonio market, will be announced later, AT&T said in a press release.

[josh]

TIME WARNER CABLE JOINS FIBER-OPTIC RACE IN SAN ANTONIO

The field of competitors in the race to provide San Antonio with faster fiber-optic networks is getting crowded, with Time Warner Cable jumping in Thursday.

The company announced it will provide its San Antonio customers — along with those in six other markets — upgraded Internet and TV services as a part of the expansion of their TWC Maxx network by the end of 2015.

Internet speeds will be up to six times faster than they are now for customers in San Antonio. DVRs will be able to record six shows at once and store about 150 hours of high-definition shows.

The provider is converting to an all-digital system, providing digital converters to customers with cable boxes and turning all remaining analog channels to digital.

TWC's announcement comes two days after AT&T announced it will roll out its high-speed GigaPower network in San Antonio.

[josh]

So now that makes Google, AT&T and Time Warner Cable bringing fiber to San Antonio. Good stuff.

[josh]

HEMISFAIR UPDATE

Three different scenarios for designs of the Civic Park portion of Hemisfair were revealed on Tuesday by Seattle-based Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, who is in charge of the design for the Civic Park.

MORE IMAGES





OVERALL HEMISFAIR REDEVELOPMENT

[warreng88]

That last one is interesting, but aren't they expanding the convention center? Is that included and I am just not seeing it?

[josh]

That last one is interesting, but aren't they expanding the convention center? Is that included and I am just not seeing it?

Yep!

In the last picture, the undeveloped land in the grey area that says Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center is the area that is currently under construction with the expansion. The original portion of the convention center, also the oldest portion of the current convention center, will be razed once the new expansion is built and that is where the Civic Park will be built.

The new expansion will be three stories in height and cost $325 million, while the original portion set to be razed is one story and 1/3 the total size of the new expansion.

Also, those buildings in the Civic Park shown in the three scenarios are planned mid-rises and high-rises.

[warreng88]

I gotcha. I was thinking the expansion was going to the west, not the east. I guess I was just turned around. My wife and I went down to SA for an extended weekend several years ago and stayed at the Omni Mansion and loved it. Of course, me being an urban development nerd, I had to go and check out SA's CC since we had just voted to build a new one. And, I wanted to see the Hemisphere Park down there and I have to admit it left a lot to be desired. Adding this park next to the CC and just south of The Alamo will be a great location.

[josh]

I gotcha. I was thinking the expansion was going to the west, not the east. I guess I was just turned around. My wife and I went down to SA for an extended weekend several years ago and stayed at the Omni Mansion and loved it. Of course, me being an urban development nerd, I had to go and check out SA's CC since we had just voted to build a new one. And, I wanted to see the Hemisphere Park down there and I have to admit it left a lot to be desired. Adding this park next to the CC and just south of The Alamo will be a great location.

Hemisfair Park has almost always been a park in name. The was a really cool laker and water feature area but that was built over in the 90s when convention center was expanded.

But what they're doing now, the children's park, the Civic Park and tower park, will truly give Hemisfair a park/parks.

[Snowman]

OAKLAND RAIDERS OWNER IN TALKS WITH SAN ANTONIO TO RELOCATE NFL TEAM

Most of the time things like this are just owners trying to get leverage in negotiations with the city they are already operating in.

[josh]

Most of the time things like this are just owners trying to get leverage in negotiations with the city they are already operating in.

Except this seems more genuine.

This was leaked to local San Antonio media weeks after the secretive meeting. If it were for leverage in Oakland, the meeting would have either be made public or the leak would have been to the Oakland media. The Raiders owner was keeping this quiet. That doesn't scream leverage.

[josh]

Recent picture of the River Walk in the Pearl District of the Museum Reach.

RECENT PICTURE OF THE RIVER WALK (MUSEUM REACH) IN THE PEARL DISTRICT OF MIDTOWN

[josh]

FIRST SAN PEDRO CREEK PUBLIC MEETING IS SET FOR AUGUST 23RD

The first public meeting for the Bexar County-driven, $175 million San Pedro Creek improvement is scheduled for 9 a.m.-noon Aug. 23 (Saturday) at Christopher Columbus Italian Society, 201 Piazza Italia. Inspired by the River Walk, the project revives the former creek — these days, it’s more of a ditch — into a multi-character linear urban park while removing roughly 42 acres from the flood zone along the stretch.

The project — county funded, but executed by the San Antonio River Authority — runs from the tunnel inlet behind Fox Tech High School south to the confluence of the West Side creeks next to Interstate 35.

Of the $175 million, county leaders have said, $125 million will be financed via certificates of obligation, a form of debt the county incurs. The $50 million difference will come from a combination of public and private rights-of-way donations (land along the creek’s banks seen as crucial to widening the tributary), and city and private sector contributions.

The projects design began in March, and is expected to take two years to complete, SARA projects and planner supervisor Rudy Farias said. Construction is expected for completion by the end of 2018.

[josh]

20 GROUPS INTERESTED IN CPS ENERGY'S NEW HEADQUARTERS

Though it’s still in an exploratory phase, CPS Energy has received interest from 20 groups for its potential new downtown headquarters — groups either offering an existing building, offering land for a new building, or offering to construct a new building.

Earlier this year, CPS Energy formed a seven-member advisory committee to explore the possibility of the public utility moving from its current riverfront headquarters at 145 Navarro St. The objective is to find a new home, but also remain in the central business district.

Most of the submissions CPS Energy received in its initial request for interest are Texas-based firms offering either real estate for a new building or offering to construct one, according to Cassidy Turley, the Washington, D.C.-based firm handling the search.

“What we’re looking at right now is a cross spectrum of Texas-based firms,” said Frank McCafferty, an executive managing director at Cassidy Turley.

CPS Energy has declined to release the list of parties who responded to the city-owned utility’s informal request for information. The utility did say that the submissions will be shared with the advisory committee later this month. A more formal request for qualifications will be issued Oct. 8, and a request for proposals on Nov. 26, CPS Energy spokeswoman Lisa Lewis said.

“Really what (an RFI) is is you’re asking someone to respond back to you,” CPS Energy spokeswoman Lisa Lewis said. “What the opportunity is, what they own, who the team would be. Are there any encumbrances? It’s an information gathering stage. So you can determine if that is a viable option to move to the request for qualifications phase.”

The short list of firms and groups will be compiled before the request for proposals is issued, and at that time the utility will release names, Lewis said.

Lewis said the utility is going to follow the process through, but that doesn’t necessarily mean CPS Energy will abandon its current digs.

“Even with proposals, we will evaluate the cost-benefit against staying put,” Lewis said.

In a meeting in spring, CPS Energy CEO Doyle Beneby told the San Antonio Express-News Editorial Board that he was adamant about keeping the new headquarters in the center city.

“Typically in major cities, (utility) headquarters are typically in the urban core,” Beneby told the Express-News in March. “So, I don’t think we should be any different. But that’s our preference, obviously. But certainly, I think, suburbia is off thetable.

“If we can ultimately make the best economic decision, in terms of our modeling, and at the same time … help the urban core, I kind of feel we should do that if we can.”

IF CPS Energy moved, it would free up prime real estate along the River Walk for potential redevelopment. Its current headquarters — two buildings consisting of roughly 200,000 square feet — houses 800 employees. It’s been there since 1954.

[josh]

SUBURBAN NEWS

LUXURY APARTMENT DEVELOPMENT, AURA AT THE RIM, UNDER CONSTRUCTION ON FAR NORTHWEST SIDE

Northwest of San Antonio, a new luxury apartment community has broken ground. Aura at the Rim is being built by Dallas-based developer Trinsic Residential Group LLC.

The residential project stands four stories tall and encompasses 308 units; it is located within The Rim mixed-use development, near the intersection of Interstate 10 and North Loop 1604, providing proximity to shops, restaurants and entertainment, as well as surface parking and attached and detached garages.

“Northwest San Antonio is an area that is enjoying an exciting surge in commercial activity and employment opportunities,” said Adam Brown, managing director for Trinsic. “It’s got it all: premiere shopping venues The Rim and The Shops at La Cantera, major employers, world-class vacation destinations and more. Aura at The Rim is perfectly positioned to give residents easy access to the best of the region. The site is elevated nearly 50 feet above the rest of the development, so it will afford residents spectacular views of the Hill Country and distant downtown San Antonio.”

The residents will be given the choice of one- and two-bedroom apartments, featuring custom cabinetry, granite countertops with a glass linear backsplash, stainless steel appliances, faux wood floors and accent walls. Community amenities include a state-of-the-art fitness center with spin room and a stretching area for yoga, a full-service resident lounge connected to a resort-style pool, an outdoor fire pit, and grilling areas.

“We’re thrilled to be giving residents one of the finest luxury apartment options in the area,” added Brown. “Aura at The Rim will be a truly exceptional multifamily community.”

[JoninATX]

The Cellars Residential (10 St.) U/C



Home » Urbantonio

[Laramie]

Most of the time things like this are just owners trying to get leverage in negotiations with the city they are already operating in.

NFL owners have leverage; so does the cities...

San Antonio with five Fortune 500 companies (Valero Energy Corp., Tesoro Corp., USAA Mutual Corp., NuStar Energy LP & CC Media Holdings Inc) is ready for the NFL. They possess the base criteria needed to bring the NFL to the Alamo City:

1. Population: MSA 2013 estimate, 2,277,550
2. Facility: Alamodome, 65,000
3. Ownership: (?)

The State of Texas would love to have a third NFL team. San Antonio's 65,000-seat Alamodome with upgrades could make a nice temporary home. New NFL stadiums now exceed $1 billion as the Minnesota Vikings have one under construction projected to open in 2016. The Raiders want a new stadium.

San Antonio has the population (2.3 million) to support NBA and the NFL. Can this city deliver on an NFL future stadium?

San Antonio should consult Nashville's former mayor:
Take a page from then Nashville's Mayor Philip Bredesen's playbook:

In an attempt to avoid Nashville being used for leverage, Mayor Brendesen took the negotiations with Oilers' owner Bud Adams into an exclusive agreement; this eliminated the potential bidding war between Nashville & Houston. You see, in 1987 Bud Adams played this game with Jacksonville and got $70 million in improvements made to the Astrodome.

Mayor Philip Brendesen played it smart. Nashville took note of what Adams wanted; the team initially played in Memphis' Liberty Bowl Stadium while an NFL stadium was being built in Nashville. The community of Memphis was interested in their own NFL team; they didn't like the idea of supporting a franchise headed to the cross state capital & arch rival Nashville. One year before the scheduled move, the Oilers left the 63,000-seat Liberty Bowl; they played at Vanderbilt University's 35,000-seat stadium before the new facility was opened in Nashville.

Los Angeles & San Antonio are favorites for NFL relocation: NFL: Potential Cities it Could Move or Expand To | Bleacher Report

Are the Raiders serious about the possibilities of relocation? Let's see how San Antonio approaches its NFL suitor?

Best of luck, San Antonio!

[Bellaboo]

Except this seems more genuine.

This was leaked to local San Antonio media weeks after the secretive meeting. If it were for leverage in Oakland, the meeting would have either be made public or the leak would have been to the Oakland media. The Raiders owner was keeping this quiet. That doesn't scream leverage.

The Saints were supposed to go there too at one time.

But I believe it would work in SA though.

[josh]

The Saints were supposed to go there too at one time.

But I believe it would work in SA though.

The Saints were never "supposed" to relocate to SA. It was talked about and city leaders at the time pushed for it. Tom Benson has businesses in San Antonio and a home here and his daughter wanted to badly relocate the team here and city leaders took the opportunity to try and make it happened but there was too much keeping it from happening including bad PR of the Saints abandoning New Orleans, Louisiana throwing lots of money to keep the team in Louisiana, the commissioner at the time not wanting the team to relocate, etc.

It just wasn't meant to be even though both parties, Saints and City of San Antonio, wanted it to happen.

[josh]

Big news coming.

[josh]

This is not the big news I mentioned on 8/12/2014, though this is definitely some big news for the east side.

The city is ready to give the job of redeveloping Red Berry Estate — an 84-acre site on the East Side — to a partnership consisting of national developer NRP Group, and Terramark Homes and Wallace-Bajjali Development Partners, both of Sugar Land.

The group is proposing a $149.8 million development that would include 600 apartments, 66 townhouses and more than 300,000 square feet of commercial space for medical offices, retail shops and restaurants.

It's also proposing a $2 million renovation of the historic Red Berry Mansion, improvements to a 12-acre man-made lake next to the mansion, and connecting the lake to the Salado Creek Bike Trail.

In 2012, the city purchased the property for $2.25 million.

If City Council approves the public-private partnership on Thursday, the group will begin design, and construction could start next summer. [Note: It was approved]

The developers plan to build on roughly 50 acres surrounding the mansion, 856 Gembler Road, with shops and restaurants accessible from Interstate 10 — the kind of development the AT&T Center was supposed to trigger when it opened in 2002.

LOCATION

[josh]

Not the big news I was talking about.

BIG CHANGES COMING TO SEA WORLD SAN ANTONIO

SeaWorld Orcas, get your sweatbands ready.

SeaWorld 's announcement Friday that it is renovating and revamping the environments for the killer whales at their three U.S. properties includes a "fast water current" for them to swim against, acting somewhat as a whale treadmill.

The company's Blue World Project, an initiative to increase engagement and interaction, would nearly double the size of the whale's current environment.

The environment, with 10 million gallons of water, will stand 50 feet deep on 1.5 acres of surface area. The renovations also include a 40-foot-high viewing gallery for guests to look under and around the whales.

NEW KILLER WHALE EXHIBIT


WILL INCLUDE A 40-FOOT VIEWING GLASS WALL


NEW SEA LION EXHIBIT


NEW DOLPHIN EXHIBIT WILL ALSO FEATURE VIEWING GLASS WALL