The development could include a small grocery store and coworking space.
A 15-story building with condominiums and a small grocery store could be the next major development near Pearl, adding to the surge of housing, hotels and restaurants rising on the near North Side.
The condo’s developers, who are gathering community input ahead of seeking city approval for the project a few blocks east of the redeveloped brewery, say it could also include a street-level co-working space.
Amid the area’s hastening redevelopment, though, a grocer is what’s been missing.
Metropolitan Development Co. principal Paul “Pawel” Hardej said that when he was studying the neighborhood for the project, he was “shocked” by how few grocery options there are.
It’s a frequent complaint among residents of the Government Hill neighborhood where the condo project would go up.
H-E-B’s upscale Central Market store is about 2 miles north on Broadway, and its small SoFlo Market store is about 4 miles south in the Lone Star neighborhood. The new 40,000-square-foot Pullman Market at Pearl also includes a grocery department stocked with Texas-grown and specialty food and home items.
Metropolitan Development’s project would be built on a pair of lots at 1312 and 1316 Austin St., which are owned by a company affiliated with Austin-based commercial real estate firm Sabot Development.
The building would have one-, two- and three-bedroom units — though it’s unclear how many — and four levels of parking with 96 spaces, Hardej and architect Sofia Maritza Ramos told residents at a recent meeting of the Government Hill Alliance Neighborhood Association.
Condo prices would start in the $300,000s. The building’s design would reflect the neighborhood, they said, with brick materials and arches similar to those in buildings at Pearl. They also described a “community-oriented” grocery store on the street level.
‘Want to listen’
Sabot has not submitted a rezoning request to the city of San Antonio, as Hardej and Ramos said they wanted to get residents’ input on the project first and seek the support of the neighborhood association. Several attendees said they liked the plan and asked about pricing and how long construction could take.
“We’re here first because you live here, I don’t, so we want to listen to you,” Hardej, who lives in Austin, told residents.
The two lots on Austin Street total nearly a half-acre. Sabot would ask the city for permission to rezone a lot that is occupied by a moving business and zoned for commercial use. The other is vacant and zoned for infill development, which allows for the project. Hardej said construction could begin by the end of 2025 and will likely take about three years.
Hardej has worked on multiple residential towers with ground-floor retail in Chicago, St. Louis and Austin, including the 44 East Ave, 80 Rainey and One Oak developments in Austin. He has also been involved in Flix Brewhouse projects, including the theater at 845 Loop 1604 in San Antonio.
Hardej and Jim Young, who leads Sabot, declined an interview request through an attorney.
Other projects
The condo building would abut Broadway East, a 1.8-million-square-foot project proposed by Fulcrum Development and GrayStreet Partners with housing, restaurants, stores and a hotel on about 18 acres stretching from Broadway east to Austin Street. Construction on a 176-room Residence Inn by Marriott hotel at East Grayson and North Alamo streets could begin in November, according to a state filing.
Other projects are also in the works nearby. Next to the San Antonio Museum of Art, McCombs Enterprises plans to build a mixed-use development that could include apartments, retail, a hotel and office space. Oxbow Development Group — the development arm of Pearl owner Silver Ventures — is also set to double the footprint of Pearl on property it owns across the San Antonio River and just north of the popular destination by the end of 2026.
Hardej’s building would also expand the city’s small condo market.
“San Antonio hasn’t really had the demand for these high-end condos because most people have wanted yards and desirable school districts. Since San Antonio has historically been a military- and family-friendly city, things such as yards and school districts have been prioritized and you could buy a single-family home for a relatively comparable price to a condo,” said Andrea Wollenzin, a real estate agent at Jason Glast Group.
Because there are few new projects, developers don’t have an array of similar buildings to draw on to determine pricing, Wollenzin said.
Some 654 condos have been sold in the area over the last year, compared with 32,993 single-family homes during the same period, according to Multiple Listing Service data provided by Wollenzin.
Of those condos sold, 35% were within Loop 410, in part because there’s little land available for building single-family homes in the urban core, said Wollenzin, who has sold luxury condos at The Broadway, The Carlyle and the St. Benedict Lofts. She said the units appeal to empty nesters or people without children who want to live within a short walk or drive of work and entertainment and don’t want a yard.
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