Hulking piles of cement debris and twisted steel are rising behind the former air conditioning plant facade on Commerce Street as demolition crews work to make way for a long-awaited residential development on the East Side.
It’s a start for a project that has existed on paper for over a decade.
The $93 million Friedrich Lofts development is a public-private partnership project of the San Antonio Housing Trust and Provident Realty Advisors.
Provident is converting the 1925 air conditioning plant, long vacant and deteriorating, into a 358-unit residential community at 1617 E. Commerce St. The timeframe for completion hasn’t been determined.
Friedrich Lofts will offer studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments in a community adjacent to the Friedrich Building, a historic landmark with its prominent Friedrich Refrigerators sign that could be converted into office and retail space by the owner.
Several entities have sought to redevelop the site over the years. In 2015, City Council approved the property owner’s request to have the local historic designation removed from the non-original buildings so that the site could more easily be redeveloped.
On Monday night, Dignowity Hill residents filed into a meeting room at the Ella Austin Community Center for an update on the project.
Most of the area residents’ questions focused on how the demolition contractor, Lloyd D. Nabors Demolition, will handle dust, contaminants and noise pollution.
The former factory is situated on a 4-acre street block bounded by a K-12 charter school, single-family homes and a cemetery. Demolition is expected to take about four to six months.
One area resident asked whether the site’s previous use as a factory affects any possible contamination resulting from the demolition process.
Basil Kooutsogeorgas, development director for the developer, responded that most of the abatement of any contaminants already has been completed. The company also hired environmental consultant Ensolum to do a comprehensive environmental study for specific hazardous materials, as required by law. That work began in January.
“We did find the asbestos,” said Darren Bowden, principal of Ensolum. “So while the contractor is removing it, my firm is out there making sure it’s done within regulatory compliance.”
The company also installed air monitoring pumps between the site and IDEA Carver Academy.
Soil samples will be taken through drilled holes in the slabs after the vertical sections of the building have been removed, said Joshua Stevens, Lloyd Nabors’ project manager.
Until that work begins, an “excavator will be just slowly taking apart the building,” Stevens said. There won’t be blasting.
When it comes time to demolish the slabs, “our biggest concern is noise,” he added. “But that’s when we’re going to coordinate with the school … directly adjacent to us, particularly for standardized tests and any other testing where hearing might be required so that we can not hinder any of their operations as much as possible.”
The owner of the historic Friedrich Building, John Miller of Dallas, is responsible for stabilizing the building prior to the adjacent structures being razed, and that work has been partially completed.
“Homeowners, in order to have development, you’re going to have inconvenience,” said Deborah McCoy, who described enduring major construction near her home close to St. Philip’s College.
She is resigned to the noise and dust for the sake of development, but is concerned about the environmental impact.
“My granddaughter goes to the Carver IDEA school so I’ve been very concerned,” McCoy said. “I used to work for an environmental company. So I’m familiar with the test that they should have run.”
McCoy said she’s been keeping an eye on the air quality meters.
“I was surprised to hear [Bowden] say that they were already almost 90% complete with their abatement,” she said. “But I’ll be watching. I know [area homeowners] are concerned about their homes. I’m concerned about the kids.”
Stevens said he has been in contact with school officials about the project, especially with regard to planned road closures around the site. “So we’re working with them as much as we possibly can to make sure that they stay happy and the community’s needs are met,” he said.
After the vertical structures are razed, the developer will have to work with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to determine what soil samples will be required, said Pete Alanis, executive director of the San Antonio Housing Trust Foundation.
The timeframe for completion is undetermined due to the TCEQ and financing stages of the project, Alanis said. “Hopefully, after that process is done, we can finish closing the loan with [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] and that will be the official kickoff.”
Construction could take 18 to 24 months after financing closes, he said.
Residents at the meeting organized by District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and the San Antonio Housing Trust also asked about affordable housing within the development.
Alanis said half of the units will be offered as affordable, based on area median incomes (AMI), and the rest at market rates.
As approved by the San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corporation (PFC) board in 2021, 24 units will be offered to people making 60% AMI and 155 units to those who make 80% AMI.
