Concerned Citizens

This past weekend the Express-News wrote about the possible demise of the River North Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 27, the TIRZ set up to help fund infrastructure improvements within an area that straddles the recently developed Museum Reach of the San Antonio River. The purpose of the TIRZ was to channel any property tax increases resulting from redevelopment in the area back into the area to help improve streets, drainage, and other infrastructure elements. However, the management of the TIRZ and the lack of any redevelopment may have resulted in a situation that questions the effectiveness of it. So does this mean River North may be just a good idea without any chance of redevelopment?

River North seems like a good idea. It’s part of the reason I moved downtown to see how things develop and if I would enjoy living in the urban core. The River North area is just north of downtown and bordered by Lexington/4th and Interstates 35/37. It includes much of the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River as well as Municipal Auditorium, soon to be the new Tobin Center for the Performing Arts. The San Antonio Museum of Art occupies the north end of the area and the Southwest School of Art and Craft on the west end. Both Central Catholic and Providence High Schools occupy a lot of the area, both with rich heritages in San Antonio. On the west end is Madison Park and the Presbyterian church bearing its name as well as the Baptist Medical Center. It’s biggest corporate citizen is AT&T with offices and parking lots along much of the river in the area.

As you can see, there are already a lot of businesses and facilities located within the area, none with plans to redevelop, change or move. To go a step further on this, Iron Mountain has a major investment on Broadway as does Cavender Cadillac. KSAT-12 has their studios in the area close to the river. Maverick Park is another major park within the area, bringing the amount of city park land to 3 blocks in the area. Turner Bowling and VFW Post 76, the oldest post in Texas, have property along the river.

There are also a number of old historic homes located in the area, some that have fallen to neglect and requiring major upgrades to make habitable again. Most are located in the residential area of the district around Madison Park. But a couple are located in the river area and intermingled with businesses and parking lots. These will pose a challenge for developers trying to build new structures that will require full or half blocks of space. This is already causing a problem for 1221 Broadway which has had to build around two structures, breaking up the clean flow of the building.

AT&T owns a large portion of the land along the river, starting with one of their major office buildings at McCullough and Avenue B. Along Avenue B heading north and across the river they have several lots that have been converted into parking lots and storage structures. In one case they have also located a large diesel generator that apparently provides power to the office building in times of a power outage. Those lots have been identified as primary development for future buildings in the River North plan and their redevelopment will be critical in turning the area into an attractive location for future businesses and residents. Without new businesses anchoring the river portion of the district it remains a hodge-podge of buildings.

Finally the infrastructure of streets and drainage is sorely lacking in the area. About the only streets that are adequate are Broadway, McCullough, St. Marys, and Lexington. Everything else will need redevelopment itself to support the kind of redevelopment planned for the area. This was the source of much of the issue Cross and Company had in finishing development of their newly purchased building at 1221 Broadway. As you can see from the photo the streets and area were really unusable for a development of that size, having been neglected after wear from construction vehicles. Cross had apparently sought the help of the TIRZ in redeveloping the infrastructure who, it seems, turned him down. Seeking alternatives to remedy the situation, Cross went to the city for help.

As a result of the remedy, 1221 has been exempted from the TIRZ and a starting funding source taken away. Hopefully the finished 1221 will provide the catalyst to help jump start development in the area. Some have challenged that Cross has purchased too much of River North and removed competition but on a drive-thru of the area I found only a few Cross and Company signs, about as many as DH Realty. In reality, much of the land is either occupied by established businesses, historic homes, a high school, or public parks. There’s really not a lot left to develop in the area.

Some have mentioned a streetcar down Broadway is a key need to help jump start development in the area, promising that developers and people will flock to the area. VIA even sought federal funds to finance a good portion of the 2.2 mile system. However, when you look at the workforce of downtown San Antonio its hard to see how residents of the area would benefit from a streetcar that only runs into the tourist district of the city. Most people in downtown work outside the area, with many working in the Medical Center area.

I’m not dooming River North by any means. I hope it succeeds in some form or fashion. The problem I see now is no real path to success without some serious changes or concessions. There has been talk of combining it with the Midtown TIRZ which encompasses the Pearl Brewery and also extending the plan to include much of Broadway towards Mulberry. Both ideas are worth considering but should be part of an overall plan, possibly generated by Mayor Castro’s SA 2020 initiative.

So, until some real changes are made I just don’t see River North becoming the gem it was intended to be. It seems to be an example of great ideas without real plans for execution.