Weston Urban plans to complete construction of 300 Main, its 32-story apartment tower on the northeast corner of North Main Avenue and East Travis Street, by spring 2024. The timeline was one of several new details to emerge from a ground breaking ceremony held on the site on Thursday afternoon.
“In two years time, a hot, soulless asphalt parking lot—and I bet there won’t be a person here who can remember when it was anything else—will transform by the work of a lot of great San Antonians into 32 stories of beauty and progress, and really homes,” Weston Urban President Randy Smith said at the ceremony, which was attended by Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Judge Nelson Wolff, and other dignitaries. “These are homes. There will be 350 homes for San Antonians, where neighbors will become friends, spouses will be met, babies will come home to, and that is something worth celebrating.”
300 Main is anticipated to cost $107 million. It will deliver 354 luxury apartments averaging 924 square feet, and 6,275 square feet of retail space, to the core of downtown San Antonio.
For the project, Weston Urban is receiving more than $8 million in incentives from local government—the majority from the city of San Antonio, and a smaller portion from Bexar County. The project will also contribute an estimated $2.2 million to San Antonio’s affordable housing fund over the next 15 years.
During the event, Nirenberg said Weston Urban shares the city’s goal of helping to create a more vibrant downtown.
“This 32-story tower will become an important symbol and a part of San Antonio’s skyline, as well,” Nirenberg said. “In addition, it sends a clear signal that San Antonio continues to move in the right direction. Investments in downtown are a vote in confidence in our entire city and the growing demand for living space.”
Nirenberg told the crowd of about 100 about the importance of density in downtown San Antonio.
“It’s the type of asset that attracts employers and employees to the urban core,” Nirenberg said, “And most importantly, more living units help address the housing demand that extends across the entire city.”
Bridge Investment Group of Salt Lake City is Weston Urban’s equity partner; Bank OZK of Little Rock, Ark., is the lender.
Scroll down for more background on the development.
Update: April 22, 2022
— Ben Olivo, Heron editor
Previously published
» Analysis: Weston Urban’s high-rise tower ‘blazes the trail’ for downtown growth
» Weston Urban plans 32-story apartment tower in downtown tech district
300 Main
» Address: 305 Soledad St.
» Developer: Weston Urban (San Antonio)
» Property owner: Weston Urban
» Type: Residential (with retail)
» New or reuse: New construction
» Status: Under construction
» Height: 32 stories, approx. 400 feet
» Land size: .87 acres
» Rent or buy: Rent
» Total units: 354
» Market rate: 354
» 80% AMI: None
» 70% AMI: None
» 60% AMI: None
» 50% AMI: None
» 40% AMI: None
» 30% AMI: None
» Student Units: None
» Section 8: Unknown
» Retail: 6,275 square feet
» Office: N/A
» Hotel: N/A
» Parking: Six-level garage, 456 spaces
» Construction start date: March 2022
» End date: Spring 2024
» Architect: Page Southerland Page (Houston)
» Cost: $107 million
» Investors: Bridge Investment Group (Salt Lake City)
» Financing: Bank OZK (Little Rock, Ark.)
» San Antonio Incentives: $7.5 million
» SAWS Fee Waivers: $1 million (Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone)
» City Fee Waivers: N/A
» City Loans: N/A
» Est. City Property Tax Rebate: $6.5 million, estimated 75% rebate on city property taxes over 15 years ($2.2 million [or 25% of rebate] will feed city’s affordable housing fund)
» Tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ): See “SAWS fee waiver”
» Bexar County incentives: $712,917 estimated value of 40-percent tax abatement on county property taxes over six years beginning Jan 1, 2025
» Texas incentives: N/A
» Federal incentives: N/A
» Total public subsidy: $8.2 million
» Cashflow: Unknown
» Affordable housing fund contribution: $2.2 million (over 15 years)
Timeline
Update: March 12, 2022
This week of March 6, construction barricades were placed around the parking lot bound by North Main, West Pecan, Soledad and East Travis streets, where Weston Urban has begun preliminary work on its 32-story luxury apartment tower. On Saturday, March 12, parts of the lot’s surface had been punctured by lighter construction machinery.
The barricades were positioned around the lot earlier in the week, said tenants of the shopping strip across North Main Avenue.
Weston Urban’s plan to build the most ambitious residential project in downtown San Antonio’s history first surfaced in late 2020. Since then, it’s been one of the most anticipated developments in recent memory.
Projects of this scale, in terms of number of units, usually take two years to complete.
The local developer, led by tech multimillionaire Graham Weston, plans to build roughly 350 market-rate units inside the 400-foot tower, which would be by far the tallest residential structure in San Antonio. The project, estimated to cost $107 million, also includes roughly 6,000 square feet of retail, and a parking garage with 456 spaces.
For the project, Weston Urban is receiving more than $8 million in incentives from local government—the majority from the city of San Antonio, and a smaller portion from Bexar County. The project will also contribute $2.2 million to San Antonio’s affordable housing fund over the next 15 years.
— Ben Olivo, Heron editor
Feb. 8, 2022
Weston Urban’s 32-story luxury apartment tower, the most ambitious residential development in downtown San Antonio history, took another step toward breaking ground when the Bexar County Commissioners Court on Tuesday unanimously approved a tax abatement for the project located at 305 Soledad St.
The $107 million development consists of roughly 350 market-rate apartments, and 6,275 square feet of retail space on the vacant lot bound by Soledad, East Travis, North Main and West Pecan streets.
The county incentive is a 40-percent tax abatement on county property taxes worth an estimated $712,917 over six years, the term of which begins Jan 1, 2025.
The rationale behind the subsidy is the tower’s ability to spur “business and commercial” activity, and to build the property tax base, according to the county’s agreement with Weston Urban.
Other taxing entities, such as the San Antonio Independent School District and University Health System, will benefit from tax revenue generated from the rise in the property’s value after it’s built and appreciates over time—with the partial exception of city property taxes.
Last year, Weston Urban and the city of San Antonio reached an agreement on a $7.5 million incentive package consisting of a 75-percent tax exemption on city property taxes over 15 years, the total value of which is estimated at $6.5 million. The company is also receiving $1 million from the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ). The other 25 percent of city property tax revenue, worth an estimated $2.2 million over the 15 years, will feed into the city’s affordable housing fund.
Last year, Weston Urban officials told the Houston Street TIRZ board that a funding gap remained, after factoring in the city’s incentive package. It’s unclear whether the county’s incentive now fills that gap or whether Weston Urban still must procure more funding before breaking ground.
Weston Urban President Randy Smith did not return interview requests for this update.
According to its agreement with the county, Weston Urban must begin construction before June 30, and it must be “substantially completed by Dec. 31, 2024.”
» Download the incentive agreement between Weston Urban and Bexar County
» Download the incentive agreement between Weston Urban and the city of San Antonio
Dec. 15, 2021
The design for Weston Urban’s much-anticipated, 32-story apartment tower received its certificate of appropriateness by the Historic and Design Review Commission without discussion on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021, presumably one of the last steps before construction can begin.
The local developer, which owns nearly 26 acres of land in west downtown, plans to build a market-rate apartment tower with ground floor retail at 305 Soledad St., currently a parking lot bound by Soledad, Pecan, Main and Travis streets. The tower will include 354 residential units, 456 parking spaces, and 6,275 square feet of retail, according to updated numbers Weston Urban submitted to the city’s Office of Historic Preservation.
It’s unclear when construction will begin, but Weston Urban executives have said it will take two years to build. Weston Urban President Randy Smith did not respond to an interview request
Weston Urban is received an incentive package worth an estimated $7.5 million, the bulk of which is a 75% rebate on city property taxes over 15 years. During the same time period, the company will pay the remaining 25% of city property taxes into the city’s affordable housing fund, worth an estimated $2.2 million.
Urbanists see Weston Urban’s project as a major step toward increasing the population of downtown proper, as opposed to outlying areas such as the Pearl or Southtown. Affordable housing advocates have long criticized the city’s practice of offering tax breaks to market-rate projects.
— Ben Olivo, Heron editor
May 6, 2021
Weston Urban’s much-hyped apartment tower received the final piece of its $7.5 million incentive package from the city on Thursday, May 6.
The developer expects to begin work on its $107 million, 32-story high-end apartment building, 305 Soledad St., in the middle of this year, and for it to be completed in two years. The apartments will be high-end, Weston Urban executives have said, but they did not disclose projected rents.
The average size of the 351 apartments is expected to be 925 square feet for the market-priced units.
On Feb. 25, the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) board approved a $1 million grant to cover the cost of SAWS impact fee waivers. Last Thursday, the City Council made the award official by approving it on the consent agenda without discussion.
In a TIRZ, the increment in tax revenue gained is collected and reinvested in the boundary.
In all, Weston Urban has received $7.5 million in city incentives, including a 75% rebate on city property taxes over 15 years, worth an estimated $6.5 million, executed in December. The other 25% of taxes due over the same period, or $2.2 million, will feed the city’s affordable housing fund.
The 400-foot unnamed apartment tower would be the tallest in San Antonio’s downtown.
Roughly 7,000 square feet of retail is planned for the ground floor of the tower.
During the Houston Street TIRZ meeting on Feb. 25, Mark Jensen, a Weston Urban vice president, said there was roughly $1.7 million worth of public upgrades, such as work that needs to be done to the streets, electrical and gas work, and telecommunications connections, that still needed to be financed.
It’s unclear whether Weston Urban will return to the city for a subsidy to fund the gap.
— Ben Olivo, Heron editor
Feb. 25, 2021
Weston Urban Vice Presidents Mark Jensen and Reeves Craig told the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) board that they expect construction on the $107 million apartment tower to start in the middle of 2021.
All of the tower’s 351 apartments, ranging from 535-square-feet for an efficiency to beyond 2,000-square-feet for a penthouse, are expected to be priced at market-rate. The average unit size will be 925 square feet.
Jensen and Craig did not disclose rents, but said each unit would cost $362,963 to build, when factoring in the cost of construction along with related costs, such as the land purchase and financing.
The Bexar Appraisal District valued the property last year at $3.1 million.
During the meeting, Jensen and Craig revealed more details about one of the most anticipated residential projects in the downtown area ever.
The exterior will be made of dark and light masonry, as well as concrete and glass. Apartments will consume floors 7 through 32. An amenity deck and pool will occupy the seventh floor.
The 7,200-square-feet of retail space is intended to activate the corners of the building, especially on the northeast corner of North Main Avenue and East Travis Street, kitty corner to the park Weston Urban just built. Jensen told board members there would be a natural pedestrian connection between a large-scale restaurant facing Travis and and Pinkerton’s Barbecue, which opened recently at the park.
The spaces facing Soledad Street and North Main Avenue he described as more “service-oriented.”
Weston Urban is planning for the building’s main entrance and lobby to face Main Avenue, and to place vehicular traffic access on Soledad, across from the Weston Centre, where there’s already a garage opening there.
“From a residential standpoint, we’re very excited to bring something to the city that sits in between the river and the creek,” Jensen said of the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek. “The ability to pop out and go for a run along either of those greenways should be a very special experience.”
Jensen said Weston Urban currently has about 20,000 square feet of retail space it’s currently trying to lease, which includes in the Frost Tower, which opened almost two years ago, as well as in the neighboring Rand and Savoy buildings on East Houston Street.
Jensen said Weston Urban will look to build mixed-income housing in future projects, where the average apartment size would be in the 700-square-foot range.
“This one particularly is targeting the higher end of the market,” he said.
Houston Street TIRZ board consists of District 1 Councilman Roberto Treviño, board chair; Assistant City Manager Lori Houston; Deputy Chief Financial Officer Troy Elliott; John Jacks, director of the Center City Development and Operations Department; County Commissioner Justin Rodriguez; County Commissioner Tommy Calvert; and Manuel Leal.
— Ben Olivo, Heron editor
Dec. 16, 2020
Weston Urban’s plan to build downtown’s tallest residential building, a 32-story apartment tower in west downtown, took a step forward when the city’s Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC) gave a thumbs-up to its design.
The commission made no comment as it granted conceptual approval for the design of the roughly 400-foot-tall tower, 305 Soledad St., which would single-handedly create a market for high-rise urban living in San Antonio.
Renderings and floor plans for the $107 million project show that it will have three separate retail spaces on the ground floor and a landscaped area with outdoor tables. Several stories up, the renderings show what appears to be an outdoor pool, and a skydeck close to the top of the building.
Most of the tower’s exterior will consist of grey brick and exposed concrete, but the lower levels will have an exterior of earth-colored brick, the renderings show. — Richard Webner, Heron contributor
Nov. 18, 2020
Word of Weston Urban’s plan to build a 32-story apartment tower, the first of its kind in San Antonio, surfaces after the plan hits the city’s Planning Commission agenda. The Planning Commission unanimously approved the plans without discussion.
October 2020
Members of the HDRC’s Design Review Committee complimented Weston Urban on the “beautiful” design, according to a report from the meeting. The meeting was not open to the public. One member expressed concern that the grey brick exterior is out of character for San Antonio, but others said they did not share that concern.
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So who is supposed to live in a 925 sa GT apartment? I don’t get it?