The development of a 294-unit apartment complex in the Lone Star neighborhood — one that would face both South Flores and East Cevallos streets — received a boost last week, when the City Council approved a Bexar County 10-year tax break worth a maximum of $648,070. Under state law, the Council must approve county incentives if the project rests in a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ).
The envisioned project — by developers Athena Domain and Ryoak Real Estate Group — would consume a fives acres on properties at 1334 S. Flores St. and 205 E. Cevallos St., inside the Westside TIRZ.
If you’re driving south on Flores Street, the apartments would be built on a site currently occupied by a historic warehouse — past the railroad tracks, opposite The Salvation Army Family Store.
It’s a 53.7 million, four-story market-rate apartment project, and is one of the most expensive projects being built since the city began it’s downtown housing incentives program in 2012. According to city documents, the project would include 14,000 square feet of retail space, 10,000 square feet of office space, and a 443-space parking garage.
In addition to county incentives, the project is due to receive $4.6 million in city incentives, the bulk of which is an estimated $3.9 million in city tax breaks over 15 years.
However, one major hurdle appears to be the warehouse, which is a designated landmark, the city’s Office of Historic Preservation confirmed on Monday. In 2016, the developers, Rajeev Puri of Athena Domain and James Schuepbach of Ryoak Real Estate Group, tried to remove the historic designation, the Rivard Report reported then.
Schuepbach declined to comment; Puri did not return an interview request.
Previously published
San Antonio Express-News: 5-acre mixed-use project planned for Southtown
Photo by Ben Olivo | San Antonio Heron
Contact Ben Olivo: 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter
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