When Pearl-affiliated developer Oxbow announced earlier this year that it planned to build a hotel across the river from the acclaimed Hotel Emma, plan documents showed more than just the proposed eight-story tower.
Now the purpose of those unmarked structures adjacent to the hotel has been revealed in filings with the city’s Office of Historic Preservation.
On Wednesday, the Historic and Design Review Commission reviewed and approved Oxbow’s request for conceptual approval to build Coopers Row North, a six-story, multifamily residential structure at 1210 E. Elmira St.
The hotel plans, cleared by the panel in July, call for a brick masonry structure with 151 rooms, meeting space and other amenities.
Situated along the River Walk in place of a 1-acre surface parking lot, the Oxbow Grove Hotel will be a more affordable counterpart to the AAA-rated five-diamond Emma, the developers said previously.
Construction on the new hotel is expected to start in early 2024 while work continues on Coopers Row, Oxbow’s seven-story apartment tower also on Elmira Street.
Meanwhile, the developer is moving forward on plans for another new Pearl apartment building just steps from the hotel.
Designed by W Partnership with Don McDonald Architects, the building will feature 75 units and 9,000 square feet of ground-floor restaurant and commercial space, a covered loggia and an outdoor patio. It is expected to open in 2026.
“This project will build on the beauty of Coopers Row while offering more places for locals to live, dine and shop,” stated Bill Shown, CEO of Oxbow Development Group, in an email. “Architecturally, this building will cohesively unite the proposed new hotel building with Coopers Row and offer a new experience with the River and Pearl.”
Oxbow has two other multifamily projects in the works near the Pearl — one planned for a 2-acre former industrial site at 102 E. Josephine St., and the Coopers Row project across the river from the luxury Cellars apartments at the Pearl.
There’s even more to come. In July, Oxbow acquired from Sabot Development a 1.5-acre parcel — also on Elmira — where the Austin-based developer had proposed a 10-story residential structure and parking garage.
Oxbow’s plans are a downsized version of that project but will include the garage to support the Grove Hotel.
Multifamily development has been multiplying rapidly in the booming Pearl and Tobin Hill neighborhoods in the past couple of years. More than 1,200 units are under construction or recently opened in the historic district, including one by Lynd Living and another by Embrey.
