On Wednesday, a new Bexar County parking garage planned for a lot just south of the courthouse gained preliminary approval from the city’s Historic and Design Review Commission.
The $13.9 million, eight-floor garage will add 750 spaces to an area of downtown that’s quickly being developed. Two projects already underway — Encore SoFlo by Dallas-based Encore Enterprises and a project by Austin-based Argyle Residential — will add about 682 residential units in a pocket of mostly empty lots and boarded up buildings bounded by Nueva Street, Dwyer Avenue, César E. Chávez Boulevard, and South Flores Street.
On one of the smaller lots, H-E-B Grocery Co. is building a seven-story parking garage to serve its growing corporate campus on the south side of Chåvez Boulevard in Southtown.
The county’s garage will be built behind the old Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas at 126 E. Nueva St., which now houses the county’s Spanish archives collection and the Bexar County Family Justice Foundation of Bexar County. Other county offices as well as the San Antonio Bar Association will move in eventually.
The garage’s first floor will serve as more office space intended for county employees. The entire structure will extend from the rear of the former federal reserve building, which faces Nueva, all the way to Strumberg Street. A nondescript one-story fenced-off building at Strumberg and Dwyer Avenue, the county’s wellness center, will be demolished to make room for the garage, Bexar County Facilities Management Department Director Dan Curry said via email.
The county hopes to start construction on the project, which is funded through the county’s capital program, within the next three months, and will take up to 18 months to complete, Curry said.
“The intention is to shift county employees to the new garage in order to free up much needed capacity in the South Flores garage for jurors and residents coming downtown for services,” Curry wrote. “That garage is in closer proximity to the main entrance to the buildings.”
The South Flores garage consists of 1,200 spaces, and is full by 8:30 a.m. Monday through Wednesday, Curry said. He said there’s a “significant gap” in available parking in the area just south of the Bexar County Courthouse and Justice Center.
Renderings courtesy Bexar County / HDRC
Contact Ben Olivo: 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter
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