What was once a series of industrial-looking buildings lining a sleepy corner of San Antonio’s center is now a pile of rubble and dirt, lined with excavators and workers wearing fluorescent vests. While it may seem like a wasteland now, it’s on a quick path to revitalizing a stretch of prime real estate. It could also signal the expansion of the booming Broadway and River North corridors.
It seems like everyone has a different definition of where downtown San Antonio starts and ends. Often, it’s more defined in the hearts of folks who wouldn’t stray too far off Broadway once you reach the north end of the city’s core. But a series of projects could rapidly change this perception, and a massive high-rise mixed-use development is making headway toward this cultural shift.
McCombs Enterprises snatched up nearly 6 acres along West Jones Avenue over three years ago, with a vision of high rises, bringing upscale housing and shops to a stretch of downtown with dwindling density north of the San Antonio Museum of Art.
“This area is poised for further smart growth in terms of urban walkability, and vibrant cultural amenities will be more fully realized over time in SAMA’s recent board-approved campus plan,” SAMA Kelso Director Emily Ballew Neff said before a city zoning commission earlier this year, pointing to the museum’s roughly 50-year investment in reinvigorating the old Lone Star Brewery site…