The Pearl area is on its way to becoming a hotel district, with a Chicago developer preparing to build an eight-story Residence Inn by Marriott amid a planned mixed-use neighborhood on the east side of Broadway.
Phoenix Pearl LLC, linked with the Chicago hotel builder Phoenix Development Partners, expects to break ground in November on the 175-room, $37 million hotel at the southeast corner of Alamo and Grayson streets, according to plans filed last week with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. It purchased the roughly half-acre property in March from GrayStreet Partners, the co-developer of Broadway East, a 20-acre neighborhood and shopping district planned directly to the south that is expected to include 1.8 million square feet of retail, office, multifamily and hospitality space.
The Residence Inn will span 119,000 square feet and feature a first-floor bar and dining area, a courtyard and pool, according to the state’s licensing and regulation department. It is expected to finish construction in June 2026.
John Mangel, Phoenix’s founder and CEO, didn’t respond to a voicemail seeking comment. Kevin Covey, the general partner at GrayStreet, didn’t respond to a text message seeking comment.
The hotel — part of a chain offering rooms for extended stays, with private kitchens and complimentary grocery delivery — would be a significant addition to the growing business and hospitality cluster along lower Broadway.
Over the last five years, two corporate headquarters have been completed nearby: a 10-story tower for the credit union Credit Human, and a 13-story tower for Jefferson Bank. There have been major additions to the Pearl such as the Stable Hall concert venue and the Pullman Market boutique grocery store. The stretch of Grayson Street the hotel would face has earned a growing reputation as a culinary district, with mainstays such as Restaurant Claudine, The Modernist and Three Star Bar.
Meanwhile, GrayStreet is teaming with the local retail builder Fulcrum Development to build the long-awaited Broadway East, also known as the BESA District, across several city blocks south of the planned Residence Inn. The first phase, expected to break ground later this year, will comprise about 175,000 square feet of retail space, according to a brochure from Shop Cos., the Dallas-based real estate firm handling the leasing. It is aiming to fill the space with well-known luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Lucchese Boots.
The 386-unit Encore Grayson apartment complex recently opened beside the Residence Inn site, occupying most of the block. It was constructed with the help of $7 million in tax increment reinvestment zone funding for utility improvements, street reconstruction, new sidewalks and other public improvements
Through all the growth along lower Broadway in recent years, luxury Hotel Emma at Pearl has stood as the area’s only major hotel option. And though it has received accolades, it can hardly be seen as an option for everyday travelers, with its typical rooms costing around $600 to $800 a night during upcoming weekends this summer, according to its website. The penthouse suites can go for upwards of $3,900.
But visitors to the area will soon have more options.
Oxbow, the development arm of Pearl builder Silver Ventures, is building an eight-story, 151-room hotel named The Grove at 1210 E. Elmira St., on the River Walk across from the Pearl. Oxbow’s CEO Bill Shown has said that The Grove will not be another luxury property like Hotel Emma.
“It’ll be absolutely beautiful, high quality, but not to that level of quality or service,” he told the Report last year. “Hotel Emma is such its own thing and its own brand that we want to make sure that this hotel is both actually and perceived as different than Hotel Emma.”
The McCombs family has included a hotel in its plans for a mixed-use community on a 5.9-acre plot it bought last year from CPS Energy on the River Walk beside the San Antonio Museum of Art, according to records obtained by the San Antonio Express-News.
GrayStreet had planned to build a 20-story W Hotel near the Pearl on lower Broadway, but it’s unclear whether the plan is still active. In 2021, Covey told the San Antonio Heron that the project was on hold after being delayed due to struggles raising capital.
Phoenix Development was founded in 2014 in Chicago and is headed by John Mangel, who formerly worked as an “imagineer” helping to develop resorts for Disney, according to Phoenix’s website. The firm is also building hotels in Dallas, Milwaukee and Chicago.
Another new Residence Inn is in the works for San Antonio’s urban core: The Austin-based Merritt Development Group plans to build a 171-room Residence Inn by Marriott at 100 N. Main St., across from Main Plaza.
David Merritt, the firm’s president and owner, told the Report earlier this year that he was bullish on San Antonio’s hospitality sector, even as occupancy rates for downtown hotels remain below pre-pandemic levels.
“We’re developing because we think there’s an opportunity,” he said. “San Antonio has struggled these last nine months, for certain, but the history of San Antonio over past decades has been strong. I feel confident that the market can support some new supply.”
