The owners of several city blocks near the Pearl could put up buildings as tall as 15 stories due to a recommendation made Wednesday at a meeting of the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC).
That exception to the rules governing development near the River Walk, which limits building heights to 10 stories, came at the request of BESA Land Partners, an affiliate of local real estate company Fulcrum Development.
Commissioners approved BESA’s request to place what’s known as a development node overlay for properties within the River Improvement Overlay (RIO) in order to increase the allowable building height.
A development node in this area would allow the developer to exceed the building height by 50%, which could mean BESA could build up to 15 stories. It also allows zero setbacks from all property lines.
Adopting development nodes within a RIO district requires a review by HDRC and the Zoning Commission, according to a proposed amendment to the Unified Development Code that will be considered by City Council this fall.
“But just because you get the development node approval doesn’t mean that your design is going to be approved,” said Ashley Farrimond, an attorney representing BESA. “It just gives us the ability to have the additional height. But that’s still subject to HDRC approval.”
The area considered during Wednesday’s HDRC hearing consists of 22 individual parcels bounded by Broadway Street to the west, Casa Blanca Street to the south, North Alamo Street to the east and the 1800 Broadway apartments to the north.
Fulcrum acquired about 15 acres of property between Broadway and North Alamo streets in 2021 but has not yet announced its plans for developing the booming area east of the Pearl.
Fulcrum is behind large retail developments across North San Antonio — including Culebra Commons, the Alon Town Centre and the Strand at Huebner Oaks — and in Schertz and Cibolo.
GrayStreet Partners has amassed about 23 acres of property in the area with the goal to develop a master-planned community focused on retail and residential.
But the developer began divesting itself of that property in 2020, selling 4 acres to Dallas-based Encore Enterprises. Encore has a $90 million, five-story residential tower in the works at the corner of Carson and Austin streets.
There are six river improvement overlay districts in San Antonio. The purpose of these zoning overlays is to establish City of San Antonio regulations that protect, preserve and enhance the San Antonio River.
The Fulcrum property is situated in RIO-2, which covers an area that extends from U.S. Highway 281 North to Lexington Avenue in downtown San Antonio.
The design objectives for RIO-2 are intended to encourage high-density, mixed-use developments and tourism uses as well as housing for downtown workers, according to a description on the city website. It’s also meant to enhance the pedestrian experience and promote designs that include balconies facing the river.
In order to approve a development node, the Unified Development Code states that the node must be located at the intersection of a major thoroughfare and the San Antonio River or the intersection of two major thoroughfares. The node could also abut the river and be a minimum of 12 acres.
BESA’s request to the commission states that the Fulcrum property meets the second requirement as it is situated near the Interstates 37 and 35 exchange. At about 3.25 acres — only a portion of what Fulcrum owns in the area — the property also meets the development node size range of between 3 to 20 acres.
In addition, the development node is near two other already existing nodes, including one west of Broadway Street across from the BESA property, according to a statement in the request to HDRC.
On the west side of Broadway sits the eight-story Oxbow office building developed by Silver Ventures and a 12-story tower that is the Credit Human headquarters.
One of two other development nodes in the vicinity exists just south of those properties at 1611 Broadway, where GrayStreet planned to build a 20-story, mixed-use tower. That node was approved through a variance in 2018.
Another is at Broadway and Grayson streets, where Jefferson Bank is building a new headquarters that will have 13 levels when complete in 2023.
The code also requires that a development within the node must provide at least two uses from among three options: office, retail and multifamily residential. In recommending approval for the request, city staff stated that the requirement was satisfied in the developer’s proposal.
The Conservation Society of San Antonio spoke against the development node.
“We do not support an overlay that would allow development with zero-foot setbacks with maximum heights,” said Kathy Krnavek, first vice president and assistant to the president of the Conservation Society. “New development on this section of Broadway should promote a pedestrian experience.”
Farrimond said the developer has not determined what will be built on the property.
“We’re asking for the development node, which is technically a zoning designation, so this is very early on in the process,” she said. “Design and what the project will look like — what it’s actually going to be — that is all forthcoming.”
