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City of San Antonio

San Antonio’s $1.2 billion bond package passes overwhelmingly

May 7, 2022 By Ben Olivo Leave a Comment

Skyline downtown San Antonio.

The city of San Antonio’s $1.2 billion package, the largest in this city’s history, looks likely to pass after Bexar County posted early voting results shortly after 7 p.m.

Filed Under: 2022-2027 bond, City of San Antonio, Elections Tagged With: 2022-2027 bond, City of San Antonio

How municipal bonds work, and a brief history of them in San Antonio

April 28, 2022 By Richard Webner Leave a Comment

What are bonds, exactly? Why does San Antonio pay for infrastructure the way it does? As early voting continues on the $1.2 billion bond package, the Heron answers these questions and others.

Filed Under: 2022-2027 bond, City of San Antonio, Elections, General News, Know Stuff, Sidebar Deep Dive Tagged With: 2007-2012 bond, 2012-2017 bond, 2017-2022 bond, 2022-2027 bond, Ben Gorzell, Carver Branch Library, Christine Drennon, City Council, City of San Antonio, Fitch, general obligation bonds, Grand Hyatt, Hemisfair, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Henry Cisneros, Heywood Sanders, JP Morgan, Las Palmas Branch Library, Moody’s, Municipal Auditorium, Olmos Dam, Roberto Treviño, S&P, SAMCO Capital, San Antonio, San Antonio Fire Department, San Antonio International Airport, San Antonio Police Department, San Antonio River, Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Sheryl Sculley, Siebert Williams Shank, Tobin Center for the Performing Arts, University of Texas at San Antonio, UTSA

Rental, mortgage aid totaling $10M to become available in San Antonio in April

March 18, 2022 By Ben Olivo 76 Comments

Development has increased around San Antonio’s Government Hill neighborhood over the last few years, resulting in modern out of place seeming homes and condos next to historic family residences as seen on Dec. 30, 2021.

The city of San Antonio is preparing to revive a program that has helped thousands of San Antonians pay their rent or mortgage, utility bills and other living expenses.

Filed Under: City of San Antonio, COVID-19, Evictions, Housing Tagged With: City Council, City of San Antonio, Covid-19, emergency housing assistance program, Housing Assistance Program, Neighborhood and Housing Service Department, Planning and Community Development Committee, TDHCA, Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs, U.S. Department of the Treasury, Veronica Garcia

Mayor Nirenberg, City Council signal support for revised Zachry-Hemisfair lease

March 16, 2022 By Richard Webner 58 Comments

Construction continues at Hemisfair's future Civic Park on the southeast corner of South Alamo and East Market streets on Monday, March 14, 2022.

Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the City Council gave enthusiastic support on Wednesday to the city’s proposal to rewrite a five-year-old agreement with Zachry Hospitality regarding its plan to develop the northwest corner of Hemisfair, a long-delayed project.

Filed Under: City of San Antonio, Development, Hemisfair, Parks & Plazas Tagged With: Andres Andujar, City Council, City of San Antonio, Civic Park, David Adelman, David Zachry, HDRC, Hemisfair, HemisFair '68, Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corp., HemisFair Park PFC, Hemisfair Park Public Facilities Corp., Hemisfair Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, Hemisfair TIRZ, Historic and Design Review Commission, HPARC, John Courage, Johnson Trube & Associates, Lori Houston, Mario Bravo, NCAA Final Four, NRP Group, Ron Nirenberg, Schultze House, Yanaguana Garden, Zachry, Zachry Corp., Zachry Hospitality

Photos: ‘Stargazer’ sculpture by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes debuts on San Antonio River Walk

March 9, 2022 By Ben Olivo 75 Comments

"Stargazer (Citlali)," a large-scale sculpture by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes, was officially unveiled earlier this week on the River Walk.

About a week ago, the wrappings that had covered “Stargazer (Citlali)” were finally removed revealing the large-scale sculpture by Mexican artist Pedro Reyes.

Filed Under: Art, City of San Antonio, Parks & Plazas, Photos, River Walk, San Antonio River Tagged With: City of San Antonio, Department of Arts & Culture, Gary Sweeney, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Labor Plaza, Octavio Quintanilla, Pedro Reyes, Ries Niemi, River Walk, River Walk Public Art Garden, San Antonio Marriott Riverwalk, Stargazer (Citlali)

Tax subsidy sometimes used for affordable housing redirected to Broadway attractions north of downtown San Antonio

February 23, 2022 By Ben Olivo 1 Comment

The San Antonio Zoo is considering several improvement projects totaling around $50 million including a gorilla enclosure, renovations to existing buildings and a completely new front gate.

A financial tool used to help fund affordable housing was recently repurposed for the San Antonio Zoo, the Witte Museum, Garden and Brackenridge Park, a move that has some nonprofit developers scratching their heads.

Filed Under: 2022-2027 bond, Broadway, City of San Antonio, Development, Housing, How Things Work, Midtown & Pearl, Museum Reach, Property Values, River North, San Antonio Zoo, Tobin Hill Tagged With: 2022-2027 bond, Alamo Community Group, Brackenridge Park, Broadway, Brooks City-Base TIRZ, ButterKrust Bakery, Cattleman Square Lofts, Cellars at the Pearl, City Council, City of San Antonio, Encore Multifamily, Erik Walsh, Government Hill, GrayStreet Partners, Houston Street TIRZ, Inner City TIRZ, Jennifer Gonzalez, Jones & Rio, Lone Star Brewery, Lori Houston, Mario Bravo, Maverick Dog Park, Midtown TIRZ, Midway, Museum Reach, Museum Reach Lofts, Pearl, Prospera Housing Community Services, Ryan M. Sweeney, SA: Ready to Work, San Antonio Botanical Garden, San Antonio Light, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio Zoo, San Pedro Springs Park, Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, Sunken Garden Theater, Tim Morrow, Vista Verde Apartments, Westside TIRZ, Witte Museum

GrayStreet Partners’ big dream for Houston Street that never materialized

January 20, 2022 By Richard Webner 55 Comments

The 300 block of East Houston Street includes the Vogue, Grant and Kress buildings.

In 2015, GrayStreet Partners announced it had purchased several iconic buildings on East Houston Street, and spoke of the corridor’s rebirth. Nearly seven years later, the local developer has been selling off its assets as it shifts focus, and capital, to other projects.

Filed Under: City of San Antonio, Historic Preservation, Houston Street, Office, Restaurants, Retail, Streets & Sidewalks, Tech District, Transactions Tagged With: Adam Neumann, Bohanan’s Prime Steaks and Seafood, Broadway East, CBRE, City of San Antonio, David Adelman, David and José Cáceres, Decade of Downtown, East Houston Street, Federal Realty Investment Trust, Frost Bank, Frost Bros., Frost Tower, Fulcrum Development, Geekdom, Graham Weston, GrayStreet Partners, Houston Street, Houston Street TIRZ, Ivy Taylor, Julián Castro, Kevin Covey, Kress building, La Panadería, Lone Star Brewery, Maryland, Mercado Roma, Mixtli, Neisner's, Nick Longo, Peter French, Pharm Table, Presa Street Bridge, River Walk, Rockville, Scott Herbold, Texas de Brazil, Travis Park Plaza, Vogue building, W Hotel, Walgreens building, West Houston Street, Weston Urban, WeWork, Wolff & Marx

Castillo says San Antonio’s failing its citizens whose homes rack up code violations

December 18, 2021 By Ben Olivo 6 Comments

The city’s Development Services Department went on the offensive this week after being lambasted in a recent report by a University of Texas at Austin professor over its code enforcement practices and how often they lead to the demolition of homes.

Filed Under: City of San Antonio, Code enforcement, Housing, Neighborhoods, West Side Tagged With: Andy Segovia, Building Standards Board, City of San Antonio, Code enforcement, Demolition Prevention & Mitigation Pilot Program, Development Services Department, DSD, Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic at Texas Law, Heather K. Way, Historic Westside Residents Association, Mario Bravo, Opportunity at Risk, Planning and Community Development Committee, Teri Castillo, The University of Texas School of Law, University of Texas at Austin

Olivo: How McKee-Rodriguez’s support for a luxury housing project helps shape the Decade of Downtown

December 2, 2021 By Ben Olivo 77 Comments

Let’s make one thing clear, the Decade of Downtown in San Antonio is alive and well. It hasn’t expired. And it will continue as long as there are city policies designed to incentivize the production of market-rate housing in the downtown area.

Filed Under: Broadway East, Center City Housing Incentive Policy, City of San Antonio, Development, East Side, Government Hill, Housing, Lone Star, Midtown & Pearl, Neighborhoods, Pearl Tagged With: 1800 Broadway, Alazán-Apache Courts, Ana Sandoval, AREA Real Estate, Bexar County, Broadway, Broadway corridor, CCHIP, Center City Housing Incentive Program, City Council, City of San Antonio, Criterion, David Adelman, Decade of Downtown, East Side, Encore Multifamily, Encore SoFlo, Esperanza Peace & Justice Center, Fulcrum Development, Government Hill, Government Hill Alliance, GrayStreet Partners, HDRC, Historic and Design Review Commission, Hixon Properties, Ian Benavidez, Inner City Development Incentive Program, Inner City TIRZ, Inspire Downtown, Jake Jopling, Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, Jefferson Bank, Julián Castro, Lone Star Brewery, Lynd Company, Mario Bravo, Michael Amezquita, Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, Midtown TIRZ, Museum Reach, OHT Partners, Pearl, Sabot Development, SAISD, San Antonio Housing Authority, San Antonio Independent School District, San Antonio River, Shirley Gonzales, Southtown, Teri Castillo, Texas Organizing Project, Universal Services Group, Vistana

San Antonio’s affordable housing discussion continues tonight as city fields criticism on 71-page plan

November 17, 2021 By Ben Olivo 1 Comment

The Nov. 3 meeting was the first of 3 meetings that will be held to discuss housing and the next one is Nov. 17. Other bond meetings are scheduled to discuss the categories of streets, bridges & sidewalks, drainage, parks and recreation and facilities, and for more information visit 2022 Bond Calendar English.pdf (sanantonio.gov).

San Antonio’s citywide discussion on housing, which centers around a 71-page strategy five years in the making, resumes at 6 tonight at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center.

Filed Under: 2022-2027 bond, City of San Antonio, Housing, Neighborhoods Tagged With: Bianca Maldonado, City Council, City of San Antonio, Cynthia Spielman, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Ian Benavidez, Neighborhood and Housing Services Department, NHSD, Planning and Community Development Committee, SA: Ready to Work, Strategic Housing Implementation Plan, Teri Castillo, Tier 1 Neighborhood Coalition

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Deep Dives

How municipal bonds work, and a brief history of them in San Antonio

San Antonio Downtown drone shot.

Rising rents, high occupancies signal ‘Decade of Downtown’ in San Antonio has worked, developers say

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