Prominent downtown developer David Adelman could receive a city incentive worth up to $335,000 for the renovation of the historic Burns building, 401 E. Houston St.
Currently, the remodel has begun on the four-story building. The $11.3 million project will add 39,000 square feet of creative office space to Houston Street, and continue a trend of historic buildings being refurbished for tech endeavors on the corridor. This includes the Vogue building anchored by Codeup, the Savoy building anchored by Scaleworks and the Rand anchored by Geekdom.
The project also will add 14,000 square feet of retail space along Houston and Jefferson streets.
On Monday, the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) board authorized city staff to begin negotiating the incentive with Adelman. At the meeting, it was unclear what the potential six-figure incentive would fund, but a city official mentioned facade improvements as a possibility.
The project’s timeline and potential tenants were also unclear. Adelman did not return requests for comment on Monday. Last year, the developer told the San Antonio Express-News that he’ll pursue federal and state historic tax credits to help fund the project.
In addition to the Burns, Adelman owns the nine-story Maverick apartments across the street. He’s also developing the yet-to-be-named, eight-story, mixed-income apartment project at Hemisfair, adjacent to Yanaguana Garden. It’s scheduled to open some time next year.
Built in 1912, the Burns building was last home to now-defunct Bromley Communications, which left in 2015. It also was a JCPenney store. It’s a local historic landmark, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
This year, the Bexar County Appraisal District values the building at $4.5 million
In a TIRZ, revenue generated from the rise in property taxes is put back into projects within the zone.
Featured photo by Ben Olivo / San Antonio Heron
[…] are signs of promise. On the corner of Houston and Jefferson streets alone, a pizza joint called Playland is scheduled to open in the Maverick apartment building in mid-July, and the historic Burns […]