Hemisfair is always looking toward the next thing, but now it's time for the future to become reality. The Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation and its trio of partners have finished the agreed-upon due diligence phase and are nearly ready to break ground.
The partnership includes the following projects and entities, according to a news release:
- A 200-room hotel by Zachry Hospitality
- A 10-story residential tower and three-story retail building by Post Lake Capital Partners
- An indeterminate "residential/retail building" to break ground much later by AREA Real Estate
- In total, by all parties, "450 residential units with workforce housing, roughly 70,000 square feet of retail space ... [and] hundreds of parking spaces"
“It is great news to share that our three development partners have completed the due diligence phase of the lease agreements and are ready to get started on the next phases,” said Hemisfair CEO Andres Andujar. “Our partners’ dedication to the Hemisfair transformation is critical as we are set to open one of the world’s great public places, Civic Park, in just a few weeks.”
Zachry Hospitality is leading the charge, breaking ground in fall of 2023. The hotel will be a "one-of-a-kind Curio Collection by Hilton product,” according to Zachry Vice President of Public and Government Affairs Tara Snowden. As the name would suggest, this collection features bespoke hotels with eclectic style.
Many Curio Collection hotels place a special emphasis on the surrounding natural world, and Hemisfair is about to unveil its newly improved green spaces on September 29; It's probably a good bet that the two will feature some interplay, even if it's just great views.
The new hotel will join the four others in Texas — two each in Dallas and Houston — sometime in 2025. In the meantime, Post Lake Capital Partners will be working along the Riverwalk, breaking ground in the fourth quarter of 2024, and AREA Real Estate will start wrapping things up when it breaks ground in 2025.
The Hemisfair District, as any San Antonian knows, is too busy to shut down for construction. All the work has been planned around events in the area, according to the release. The 2025 NCAA Final Four, also known as March Madness, was given special consideration; games have already been scheduled at The Alamodome on April 5 and 7, 2025.
It may also quell some San Antonio's anxieties to learn that these developments are all located around City Park, and not directly on parkland. The decision to use these spaces was made in 2014, and funds have been appropriated from Hemisfair District revenue, not tax revenue. In fact, according to the Redevelopment Corporation, the goal is to make Hemisfair financially self-sustaining.
Unveiling Civic Park is part of the second phase of Hemisfair's urban park series. Yanaguana Garden was the first phase, and the third and final phase focuses on "Tower Park," on the eastern side of Hemisfair.
More information about changes in the district is available at hemisfair.org.
Rendering courtesy of Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation
Civic Park will be open to the public on September 29.
