San Antonio’s urban core is finally taking shape
Today I dropped by the soft opening of the Pearl Brewery Farmers Market. It’s located in the parking lot behind the brewery complex on Grayson Street overlooking the river. The grand opening is scheduled for May 16th with soft openings happening every Saturday between now and then. It’s billed as a “producers only, rain or shine, year-round market.” While down there I walked around the Pearl Brewery complex and was impressed with how it’s come along. As I left the area and pulled onto Broadway I couldn’t help but notice my outlook on that area changing. I think we’re on the cusp of a new era in San Antonio with regards to the urban core.
With the opening of The Vistana and, soon after, The Vidorri San Antonio’s downtown area is experiencing a residential change. More and more residents are starting to move back to the area and businesses are starting to cater to more than just office and tourist visitors. As more and more residents move back to the center of the city the downtown experience will continue to grow. That experience should expand both to the north and south along the San Antonio River.
Many of these developments are centering around the San Antonio River Improvement project that will soon enter a new phase with the opening of the Museum Reach. It’s really an exciting project for the river and will help revitalize a lot of areas that had gone into disrepair. I have to applaud two good friends, Mayor Lila Cockrell and Irby Hightower, for their leadership with the Oversight Committee. I’ve talked a couple of times about the project with Irby and his vision for the river and like what I hear. In some ways I equate him to Robert H.H. Hugman, the visionary behind the current Riverwalk. Hightower is San Antonio’s new visionary for the river and I predict generations will look back and thank him for that vision.
It’s hard not to talk about these changes without looking at the political aspect as we approach municipal elections on May 9th. All four major candidates for mayor have spoken of the need to rebuild the urban core, each speaking to different aspects of that process. All mention current Mayor Phil Hardberger’s vision for that area and cite the numerous accomplishments during his tenure as mayor. Hardberger knew that by focusing on the core San Antonio would establish a foundation for a great city for generations to come.
In an article about Sheila McNeil’s mayoral candidacy the San Antonio Business Journal cited an interview with Hardberger in 2005 about that vision. ”We need to use our tools to build up the inner city and especially downtown. If you don’t have a strong center city, you don’t have a very strong city period.” Hardberger added, “We’ve all bitten into apples that look great on the outside, but the core is rotten. We can’t spend (enough) time on this effort.”
Now is a great time for San Antonians to revisit the downtown area and discover what it will soon have to offer. With changes to the Museum of Art and development of new parks and vistas along the river residents no longer have the old excuse of avoiding the tourist traps along the Riverwalk. There’s so much more area to walk around without bumping into one of those folks with the funny name badges. Young professionals who are looking for a great and exciting life can join empty nesters who are looking for a simple space to gather with friends to help revitalize the areas.
I can see your outlook is starting to change also as the visions start coming to mind. San Antonio has a great urban core in the works.
Another great article of interest! We think all the time about moving into an apartment downtown once all of the kids are out and about. Phil Hardberger has done a fantastic job all around for San Antonio~I wish he would stay, but as he said when I told him that, all good things must come to an end! I think your candidate will be our next mayor and hopefully he will continue much of what Hardberger has done for us, particularly where revitalization efforts are concerned.
Thanks Carol. After I finished the piece I thought about some things I wished I would have added. Part of it relates to how the river could serve as a link for a series of neighborhoods all the way from Brackenridge down to the missions. A similar experience is happening in Kansas City right now with Main Street serving as that link from downtown south to Country Club Plaza. I’ll probably put it together in a future posting and show how San Antonio could do a similar thing. After all the river really is our main street.
There are indeed many positive changes in the urban core. But something needs to be done about that incomplete monstrosity that was intended to be condos or offices but now sits half finished and rusting away. You know the one I mean? It’s right off the I35-281 interchange and dominates the view of that area. Why it has not become an issue is beyond me. Unfortunately, it will probably take some kid getting hurt for people to do something. In fact that whole lower Broadway area needs a facelift. I mean the signs on the headquarters of Hardberger’s 2005 campaign are still intact on that abandoned car lot!!! Ok off the soapbox for now.
DK I know exactly what you mean. The building has been an eyesore since construction stopped on it. It was intended to be a great anchor for the revitalization. When the developer got into bankruptcy issues in court the whole project went south. With the new river project complete there’s great opportunity for it so hopefully someone will pick it up and do something with it. SAMA is putting a parking lot and pedestrian bridge in right behind it. Regarding lower Broadway, expect some new development as soon as the nation’s economy gets out of the ditch. The area was zoned for multi-family (aka condos) about 2 years ago so I can see something like some of the condo developments and businesses just north of downtown Dallas going up in the coming years.
Thanks for the reply!