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Tiki bar, Asian restaurant, apartments part of Witte building restoration

November 14, 2018 By Ben Olivo 10 Comments

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The Witte building is located at 135 E. Commerce St. BEN OLIVO | SAN ANTONIO HERON

The $7.5 million rehabilitation of the Witte building on East Commerce Street—aka, the Chinese restaurant—is well underway.

Esquire Tavern owner Chris Hill is rehabbing the 1890s building to hold a tiki bar on the River Walk, an Asian restaurant on street level, office and event space, four micro-apartments on the top floor, and a new public staircase and elevator from the street level to the River Walk.

Houston Eaves, beverage director at the Esquire Tavern, will lead the tiki bar; Myles Worrell will serve as head bartender.

“We did a tiki trip last year and started in San Francisco and then to L.A. and San Diego,” Hill said. “We saw pretty much the whole gamut from the beginnings of the pre-World War II to Trader Vic’s to Smuggler’s Cove.”

Hill has hired Jill Giles to design the interior.

The Commerce Street-facing restaurant will offer some sort of Asian menu, Hill said, “to sort of go with the Tiki bar.”

He’s still looking for an operator.

The four units will be around 300 or 400 square feet with 14-foot ceilings and balconies.

“We think it’s going to be under $1,000 a month,” said Hill, who declined to give the overall cost of the project.

The second floor will consist of 1,000 square feet of banquet and event space.

The project is receiving a portion of a $5.3 million incentive grant from the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. It’s also receiving something called the Riverwalk Capital Improvements Reimbursement Grant worth up to $1 million for the stairway and elevator improvements. Other incentives include $137,910 in SAWS impact fee waivers, $21,000 in city fee waivers, and an Inner City Incentive Fund Grant worth $800,000.

Hill anticipates completion in exactly one year. It’s the same timeline as the Witte’s sister project, the 22-level Canopy by Hilton down the block at Commerce and St. Mary’s streets.

That project will include a full restaurant on the River Walk, which Chef Andrew Weissman will assist with in terms of the menu; it’s not a new Weissman restaurant. “He’s just helping out,” Hill said. “We’re thrilled to get him to assist us.”

Setting It Straight: A previous version of this article misspelled the name of The Esquire Tavern’s beverage director. It’s Houston Eaves.

Contact Ben Olivo: 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter


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Filed Under: Commerce Street, Development, Food & Drink, Housing, Office, River Walk

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Scott says

    November 15, 2018 at 4:31 pm

    You had me at Tiki Bar.

    Reply
  2. Mark says

    November 15, 2018 at 4:55 pm

    When did that Chinese restaurant close? It has been there forever but I don’t think I ever remember seeing it open. It’s good something is finely being done with the building.

    Reply
  3. Lewis Fisher says

    November 20, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    Thanks Chris for taking on a very difficult and complex project that will preserve a piece of San Antonio’s Victorian past!

    Reply
  4. Oscar says

    November 24, 2018 at 10:31 pm

    I did a school project involving the facade facing the river of that building. Happy to see that building is getting a built out.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. The Floodgate tower closer to reality with razing of Commerce buildings says:
    February 6, 2020 at 10:25 am

    […] $43 million, octagonal tower will stand between the Witte building and Esquire Tavern, which are both owned by local developer Chris Hill. Hill and Merritt […]

    Reply
  2. Mexican Manhattan Restaurant, downtown San Antonio staple for 62 years, permanently closed - San Antonio Heron says:
    October 26, 2020 at 6:57 am

    […] hotel has closed some on the lanes on Soledad and West Commerce. So has construction related to the Witte building on the river level has also cluttered the area with road […]

    Reply
  3. Tiki bar, Vietnamese restaurant set to open early 2021 in Witte building - San Antonio Heron says:
    December 16, 2020 at 12:48 pm

    […] Previously published Tiki bar, Asian restaurant, apartments part of Witte building restoration […]

    Reply
  4. Mexican Manhattan Restaurant, downtown San Antonio staple for 62 years, permanently closes - SAHeron says:
    January 5, 2021 at 7:58 pm

    […] into a hotel has closed some on the lanes on Soledad and West Commerce. Construction related to the Witte building on the river level has also cluttered the area with sidewalk impediments and […]

    Reply
  5. Canopy by Hilton, Witte building to bring four restaurants and bars to East Commerce - SAHeron says:
    March 16, 2021 at 7:28 pm

    […] Renderings show 17-level, octagonal Floodgate apartments towering over River Walk (Dec. 2, 2018) » Tiki bar, Asian restaurant, apartments part of Witte building restoration (Nov. 18, […]

    Reply

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