Developer James Lifshutz has purchased a 4.6-acre property directly south of Roosevelt Park and across the river from the soon-to-be redeveloped Lone Star Brewery.
With his purchase of the property—a cluster of warehouses at 421 Roosevelt Ave.—he now owns at least 51 acres of land south of downtown around the San Antonio River and Mission San Jose, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.
Lifshutz Companies LP, a partnership controlled by Lifshutz, bought the property on May 25 from the Martin Linen Supply Company for an undisclosed price, county property records show. The appraisal district valued the property at $836,660 this year. Lifshutz did not respond to requests for comment.
Directly across the river from the property, GrayStreet Partners and Houston developer Midway plan to rehabilitate the Lone Star Brewery into a 32-acre master-planned development with 1,282 housing units, 186 hotel rooms and nearly 360,000 square feet of office space. City Council voted on May 20 to award a $24 million incentive package for the project.
[ Related: Council passes $24M Lone Star incentive package, despite community concerns ]
David Adelman—a developer who, like Lifshutz, has long been active in the urban core—bought a four-acre property directly north of the brewery on May 21, two days after Lifshutz bought the 421 Roosevelt site.
[ Related: Developer Adelman buys industrial site north of Lone Star Brewery ]
Lifshutz, the builder of the Blue Star Arts Complex, has decades of experience in developing projects on the southern stretch of the San Antonio River. In recent years, he partnered with NRP Group to build The Flats at Big Tex apartment complex south of Blue Star, and rehabilitated a warehouse at 2450 Roosevelt into South Side Living + Maker Spaces, a complex of studio apartments, some of which have space for creative or commercial uses.
He controls companies that own about 16.6 acres of land north and south of the Hot Wells county park, where he has said that he plans to build a spa facility and an area that could be used for food trucks. He donated the land for the park to the county in 2017.
Since 2005, Lifshutz has owned about 7.8 acres across the river from Hot Wells, 711 Willow Way, which is now occupied by several residential homes, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.
In 2019, he purchased 5.2 acres of land directly south of Mission San José, on either side of Huizar Road, east of Roosevelt Avenue. That same year, he purchased 11.4 acres of land about a mile to the north at 2835 Roosevelt.
On the 300 block of West Commerce Street, Lifshutz is also renovating the two-story Kline’s building into a restaurant and retail space.
[ Related: West Commerce likely to become San Antonio’s next nightlife destination ]
Richard Webner is a freelance journalist covering Austin and San Antonio, and a former San Antonio Express-News business reporter. Follow him at @RWebner on Twitter
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