Public relations professional Jonathan Gurwitz has worked his entire career along the Broadway corridor, long enough to remember when the Pearl Brewery was derelict.
Like many others today, he often walks across the river to the Pearl for lunch or to meet friends for drinks after work. He looks forward to a new music venue opening within steps of his office at KGBTexas on East Locust Street.
“The transformation is really remarkable … and I’ve had a front row seat to it,” Gurwitz said. “There’s just construction going on everywhere.”
Along with the growing number of restaurants and office space, four new residential developments are in the works west of the Pearl, bringing more residents into what was once a mostly single-family and light industrial Tobin Hill neighborhood.
But multifamily options are increasing in Tobin Hill and the president of the neighborhood association welcomes it.
“We are excited to get more multifamily living in the area here,” Parker Dixon said. “It’s a big need. There’s not enough housing in San Antonio in general so we’re excited to be contributing … especially in an area that’s so walkable.”
In fact, Dixon sees more people living in the area as good for local businesses, increasing foot traffic along the St. Mary’s Strip, an entertainment district that runs through Tobin Hill, and reducing the problems that come with vehicle traffic.
Residents in the area have been working with the city on issues related to parking, traffic and a perceived spike in crime, which led to a traffic study and an initiative that temporarily barricaded neighborhood streets.
A planned San Antonio Police Department substation on North St. Mary’s Street that area residents hoped would help reduce crime and vagrancy was expected to be complete in 2023. But the project was recently delayed due to increases in construction costs, which sent the project back to the design phase.
Deputy Chief Robert Blanton said he estimates the project is about six months behind schedule.
As for Gurwitz, who does not live in Tobin Hill, he expects there will be more cars and traffic in the neighborhood due to new development, but he also believes the city will work through those issues.
A parking study completed in the spring showed that there are between 450 and 500 additional cars on weekend nights in Tobin Hill as people are drawn to the bars and restaurants along North St. Mary’s Street. As a result, the city is working to develop a residential parking permit program, said District 1 Councilman Mario Bravo.
A traffic study has not been done in the area, Bravo said; however, developers are required to submit to a traffic impact analysis report to the Department of Public Works prior to starting a project.
Elmira Apartments
Site work began in June at the corner of Elmira and Schiller streets, where a Silver Ventures investor group is developing a seven-story apartment building across the river from the luxury Cellars apartments at the Pearl.
When completed in about two years, the development will feature 256 units and 480 parking spaces. Plans call for the building to offer a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom units, with retail space on the ground floor. The apartments will be rented at market rates with several units reserved for artists, musicians and chefs in residence.
The Josephine
Construction has also started on The Josephine, a project of developer Lynd Living, located at 120 W. Josephine St. The estimated completion date is September 2023.
The Josephine will feature 261 units, from studio to three-bedroom apartments, and a garage with 381 parking spaces.
Lynd partnered with the San Antonio Housing Authority, now known as Opportunity Home San Antonio, to set aside 10% of the units for residents whose income is 50% of the Area Median Income, and 40% of the units for households who earn 80% of the AMI.
Tin Top Flats
Another development closer to completion is Tin Top Flats at the Creamery, a project by local real estate developers Embrey and Area Real Estate.
Located along U.S. Highway 281 at the site of a former Borden Dairy plant, the development will bring 338 market-rate units to Tobin Hill and a connection to bike and walking paths along the Brackenridge Golf Course when it is completed in spring 2023. The developer is planning for 461 parking spaces in a garage and some surface lot parking.
Mira
Directly across from Gurtwitz’s office, the Austin firm Sabot Development has plans to build a 10-story mixed-use tower within a 1.5-acre block bounded by Euclid, Myrtle, Elmira and Locust streets. It will feature 299 units, garage parking and 12,000 square feet of retail.
With rezoning approved in 2020, work on the development has not begun, but a representative for Sabot said the project the developer is calling Mira is still on the drawing board.
Gurwitz said his firm’s location in the area has served as a workforce recruiting tool. Potential employees are drawn to jobs where they can work and live near the amenities they find at the Pearl and just beyond.
In that way, it also benefits the city’s efforts to attract and retain workers who are looking for an urban lifestyle, he said.
“It’s also the kind of high-density, low-impact development that the city and developers who have had this vision … to create these neighborhoods in San Antonio where people will walk and ride bikes and find other forms of transportation, rather than getting in a car,” Gurwitz said.
Reporter Andrea Drusch contributed to this article.
KGBTexas and Embrey are financial supporters of the San Antonio Report. For a full list of business members, click here.
