Bexar County Commissioners approved staff negotiations with Encore Multi-Family LLC on Tuesday, after the Dallas based-developer presented plans to build a mid-rise apartment complex in downtown San Antonio with capital investments worth $60 million.
The proposed Encore Riverwalk would include 338 apartment units, parking spaces and a 7,000 sq. ft. leasing and amenity center. The mixed-use development, proposed for 304 and 308 S. Flores St., would break ground later this year and finalize construction in 2018. The project site is located between San Pedro Creek and the San Antonio River, less than five blocks away from the coming Frost Bank office tower, and joins at least a dozen planned hotel, residential, office, and mixed-use projects downtown.
County staff will review the developer’s proposal for a 10-year, 50% property tax abatement valued at nearly $900,000, before Commissioners put it to a vote.
The apartment community would complement ongoing County and City efforts to expand housing downtown, and be second only to Agave in number of apartment rental units in downtown.
“The project will offer our employees an opportunity to live across the street from where they work,” County Judge Nelson Wolff stated on Tuesday. “It is also a step forward in linking Southtown to downtown.”
The County also approved negotiations with W.W. Grainger, Inc., a Fortune 500 industrial supplies company looking to open a new location in the Medical Drive area. The Chicago-based company promises to bring $3.9 million worth of investments to San Antonio, and 246 new, full-time jobs with an average annual salary of $43,463. W.W. Grainger employs less than 70 individuals locally, but the company opted to bring its new regional inside sales facility to San Antonio rather than Chicago for the city and state’s overall lower cost of living and potential tax abatements.
“Anytime another major national company chooses Bexar County as a place to expand, it shows how vibrant our economy and community is,” Wolff said. The Grainger expansion could attract similar companies, as they look to expand their operations.
*Top Image: Rendering of the proposed Encore Riverwalk. Image Courtesy of Encore Multi-Family LLC
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