Park Living

Hemisfair prepares to break ground for hotel and residences around San Antonio's new Civic Park

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.

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bang for your buck

San Antonio ZIP code is 4th most affordable place for renters in U.S.

Photo by Florian Schmid on Unsplash

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Trying to afford buying a home in San Antonio is difficult enough with current mortgage rates, and doubly so if you're already paying high rent on an apartment or a house. But there are six San Antonio ZIP codes where renters can get the most bang for their buck, according to a new study by financial services company CashNetUSA.

To find the most affordable ZIP codes for renters in the U.S., analysts compared median household incomes by ZIP code to the average annual rent costs in those areas using the Zillow Observed Rent Index. ZIP codes where the average annual rental constituted the lowest percentage of median household income were considered the "most affordable."

San Antonio's 78248 ZIP code specifically stood out as the No. 4 most affordable in the country, and the No. 1 most affordable in Texas. This area encompasses the north San Antonio neighborhoods of Inwood, Forests at Inwood, Oakwood, The Park at Deerfield, Canyon Creek Bluffs, Canyon Creek Village, Blanco Village, Deerfield, Cadillac Drive, and Churchill Estates.

According to the study's findings, the average monthly cost of a rental in 78248 comes out to $1,259.17, and the median annual income of a household in the area is $122,986. Analysts then calculated that the annual rent of a home in this ZIP code only takes up 12.29 percent of a household's median income, which is the fourth-lowest in the nation.

CashNetUSA found the No. 1 most affordable ZIP code for renters nationwide is 66224 in Leawood, Kansas, where annual rent only takes a 10.57 percent cut out of a household's median annual income.

Elsewhere in Texas, two Houston-area ZIP codes – 77401 and 77094 – ranked No. 9 and No. 12 nationally, while Allen's 75013 ZIP code fell two spots behind to claim the No. 14 spot.

The most affordable San Antonio-area ZIP codes for renters
CashNetUSA further unveiled the five most affordable ZIP codes across major U.S. cities, including in San Antonio, Austin, and Houston.

Following 78248 (which took the No. 1 spot citywide) is 78261 (No. 2), which spans east of Highway 281, across Smithson Valley Road. Rent costs in this ZIP code averaged out to $1,698 per month, the report found.

Landing in the No. 3 spot is 78258, which includes Rogers Ranch, The Vineyard, Stone Oak, Summit, Hidden Canyon, and Big Springs neighborhoods. The report said average rent in the area comes out to $1,507 per month, which takes up 17.54 percent of a household's median annual income.

The remaining top two most affordable ZIP codes for San Antonio renters are located in 78259 (Encino Park, Encino Ranch, Cavalo Creek Estates, Northwood Hills, Summit at Bulverde Creek, Roseheart, Redland Woods) and 78260 in Timberwood Park, which is about 25 miles north of downtown San Antonio.

rent rent prices affordable housing