The owners of the Robert E. Lee apartments in downtown San Antonio may be planning to sell the building.
The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) notified tenants in August that developer Weston Urban has offered to buy the property, a multifamily housing tax credit development at 111 W. Travis St.
The offer price is $4.35 million, according to the letter. Tax records show the historic property was last assessed at $2.75 million, but a 20-year-old, $1.7 million loan from the City of San Antonio for renovations is still outstanding.
A 2017 filing with the state shows the owner spent $2.5 million to renovate all units, make accessibility updates on two floors, and build a new laundry room and community room.
The letter states that the building owner, RELEE Partners of Connecticut, is planning to sell the Robert E. Lee to Weston Urban. RELEE has owned the property since 1999, earning over $2.7 million in tax credits during the first 10 years of ownership.
Weston Urban owns multiple adjacent properties within the central business district, including Legacy Park, right across from the apartments.
Recently, the developer and its president, Randy Smith, have been at the forefront of an agreement with the City to build a new ballpark in San Antonio that would be partially funded through tax revenue from proposed new development in the northwest quadrant of downtown.
The plan would displace hundreds of people living in the Soap Factory, a low-cost apartment complex downtown, over the next several years.
Weston Urban was behind the Frost Tower, completed in 2019, and owns the 32-story luxury apartment tower, 300 Main, which sits near the Robert E. Lee apartments.
Many of the units at 300 Main have unobstructed views of Robert E. Lee and its giant neon sign that says “Hotel Robt. E. Lee” in red letters with “Air Conditioned” below.
The developer is now building out the Continental Block, a planned 16-story apartment building with a completion date set for late 2025. Half of the 290 apartments in that project are slated to have affordable rents based on income.
Smith and the building’s owners, listed as John McClutchy and Todd McClutchy, did not respond to calls for comment about the pending sale or their plans, if any, for the Robert E. Lee building.
Nervous
On Friday, several Robert E. Lee residents were gathered in the cavernous lobby, sitting on their walkers and in wooden chairs around a small table pushed to the wall.
The table was situated in the airflow path of an industrial-strength fan that hummed across the room while they chatted.
Ruben Valdez, 56, held a green handkerchief as he recounted receiving the letter notifying tenants of the possible sale last month. Valdez said he pays about $800 monthly in rent and has a Housing Choice Voucher.
He didn’t know exactly what the letter meant, but given what happened to the Soap Factory apartments, Valdez said he was, “nervous they’re going to kick us out.”
Before he moved into the apartments about two years ago, he struggled with his mental health and homelessness. Valdez said he lost his family, six people, to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He found a new family at Robert E. Lee.
“It’s like a big family,” said Betty Wilkins, 74, who has also struggled with homelessness but has lived there for 16 years. Many tenants celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas together and often play bingo in the lobby, she said.
The main entrance needs to be fixed — the large wooden door sticks and scrapes open only after a solid heave that many residents can’t muster. Otherwise, Valdez and Wilkins agreed that the management and maintenance staff keep things tidy and functioning.
They’re willing to put up with some outdated features and broken window dressing because of the location and the historic charm of the building.
“I don’t want to move … it’s home,” Wilkins said, and there’s nothing comparable downtown. “Where else would I go?”
Neon signs
The Robert E. Lee is a 10-story building with 72 one- and two-bedroom apartments ranging between 401 and 625 square feet. Units are leased to individuals and families making less than 60% of the area median income, which is $37,200 for an individual, and $42,480 for a family of two.
In the complex, 61 units are occupied and the street-level retail space is vacant.
Built as a 200-bed hotel in 1922, it was the tallest hotel in the city at the time. The Confederate general for which it’s named spent several years of his military career in Texas and San Antonio. The neon signs were added in 1938.
The hotel closed its doors in the 1970s and was turned into apartments in the ’90s.
The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and received a preservation award from the Conservation Society of San Antonio in 1998.
In 2017, the owner requested approval from the city to shorten the neon sign to “Hotel Robt.” amid national debate over the removal of Confederate monuments. That same year, Northeast ISD board members approved a name change for Robert E. Lee High School, which is now named Legacy of Educational Excellence (L.E.E.) High School.
The Conservation Society of San Antonio pushed back on RELEE’s request and the neon sign remains.
Loan to renovate
The City of San Antonio, through its allocation of federal Community Development Block Grant funds, loaned the building $1.7 million in 1995 on the condition that the apartments be kept affordable, Assistant City Manager Lori Houston said.
The current building owner, RELEE Partners, has not paid back the 20-year term loan.
“The loan will transfer to a new owner, whoever it is, and that loan will have to be repaid, or they’ll negotiate new terms with the city,” Houston said. “Those terms can be negotiated based on community benefit.”
Before a sale is even negotiated with a private, for-profit company or person, Houston said, “they need to issue a solicitation to affordable housing providers. That’s a requirement. … If another affordable housing provider buys it: That’s awesome.”
Currently, most residents are using Housing Choice Vouchers to subsidize their rent there, she said.
“The property is not in the best condition and it continues to fall into disrepair,” Houston said. “So I am very pleased to see that they are pursuing a sale of the property.”
Tax credits
In 1994, the development was awarded $274,995 in annual tax credits, a 10-year tax reduction that began in 1997.
The letter to residents said state law requires the owner to give tenants, a qualified nonprofit or other entities 90 days’ notice before the property is sold. The time clock starts when the TDHCA has completed its review and listed it for sale.
That has not happened yet, said Rosalio Banuelos, director of multifamily asset management for the state agency that oversees housing tax credit properties.
The owner has submitted an application to list the property for sale at $2.65 million. But the offering has not been posted, Banuelos said. “We asked them for some additional information, we’re waiting on that to be submitted.”
The agency specifically requested a report on the condition of the property that is more recent than the 2016 report that was submitted, he said.
Under the federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program, properties like the Robert E. Lee provide tax credits to property owners in exchange for offering affordable housing for those who qualify.
The tax credits allow owners to lease units at below-market rates, but the development must involve new construction or substantial rehabilitation of residential units.
Many questions
The Right of Refusal notice also states that if another entity does not make an offer, then the owner can sell the property to Weston Urban. The 90-day period starts once the property is listed on the TDHCA website.
The local housing authority, Opportunity Home, or the San Antonio Housing Trust — both publicly funded — would be eligible to purchase the apartments, Houston noted, as would nonprofit providers such as Prospera or Merced.
Neither Opportunity Home nor the Housing Trust has been notified of a pending sale of the building.
“We’re obviously going to inquire and try to understand what that letter [to residents] meant and if that letter is still active,” said Pete Alanis, executive director of the Housing Trust. “It’s really going to take some time and some research and discussing this with folks on what’s the intent.”
Banuelos said that housing nonprofits subscribed to the agency’s announcement service will be notified when the listing is posted on the website.
The agency will notify tenants if a buyer comes forward or if it’s sold to Weston Urban, states the letter, which also invites tenants to call TDHCA with questions.
“I have had many tenants call me with questions, not recently, but over the last few weeks … some of them wanting to understand the process, wanting to know what it means for them,” Banuelos said.
Housing ordinance requires the new property owner to continue operating the development in accordance with the land use restriction agreement, he said.
But the term of that agreement ends in late 2026, he added.
Given the recent last-minute relocation plan for the Soap Factory apartment tenants to make way for Weston Urban mixed-use developments associated with downtown baseball stadium, tenants have reason to be nervous.
“I hope that there is more transparency in the process,” Alanis said. “When it comes down to it, that’s what folks want.“
If the Housing Trust were to get involved — and there’s no indication yet that they would or could afford it — he said, “I’d want to get rid of that name.”
