Urban living
New $65 million mixed-use development will rise near Hemisfair
An Austin developer has gotten the go-ahead for an eight-story apartment and retail project in downtown San Antonio that’ll be sandwiched between the River Walk and Hemisfair.
On February 5, the San Antonio Historic and Design Review Commission gave the green light to the $65 million project. The development will be at 410 E. Nueva St., bounded by East Nueva, South St. Mary’s and South Presa streets.
With the commission’s stamp of approval, Weal Development LLC now can seek building permits from the city, says Dennis McDaniel, head of the Austin-based firm. Construction is scheduled to start in late April, he says. Completion is set for March 2022.
The nearly 410,000-square-foot project, called St. John’s Square, will feature 252 apartments, along with ground-floor shops and a parking garage for residents, customers, and downtown visitors.
More than one-fifth of the apartments will be set aside for low- to middle-income renters, with the rest being leased at regular market rates. Sizes of the studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments will range from 510 square feet to 1,395 square feet.
The retail component of the development will encompass 8,000 to 10,000 square feet, McDaniel says.
St. John’s Square is being built on a 1.3-acre site (now a parking lot) that Weal Development will lease for 99 years from St. John’s Lutheran Church, which is at 502 E. Nueva St. A one-story brick building that currently houses a law firm will remain next to the mixed-use project. The St. John’s Square site is across from the La Villita Historic Arts Village.
Austin-based Mark Odom Studio Inc. is the project’s architect; the contractor for St. John’s Square is San Antonio-based Cadence McShane Construction Co.
Mark Odom says St. John’s Square will be a catalyst for filling the void in “missing middle housing” in San Antonio’s urban core. The “missing middle housing” concept applies to multifamily or clustered residences that are situated in walkable urban environments and are compatible with neighboring single-family homes.
“Creating an elevated experience for the future tenants has been at the forefront of every decision during the [design] process,” Odom says.
This isn’t Weal Development’s first project in San Antonio. The company completed Steel House Lofts, located at 1401 S. Flores St., in 2012.