A luxury shopping center could be coming soon to the Pearl district.
The Historic and Design Review Commission on Wednesday approved issuing a certificate of appropriateness for a multi-level retail development to be built on 3.4 acres across Broadway Street from the Pearl.
Approval was also granted for a two-story historic house that stands in the way to be relocated a block away. Another home, previously damaged in a fire, has already been demolished.
In the plans for Broadway East San Antonio (BESA), Pearl Parkway also would be extended east to North Alamo Street, connecting the two major developments, according to documents submitted by the applicant, Mark Henderson of the San Antonio-based architecture firm Ford Powell and Carson.
The BESA project is planned for a property in the Government Hill neighborhood owned by Besa Land Partners, a foreign limited liability company registered by Fulcrum Development, a San Antonio-based real estate developer.
GrayStreet Partners is listed among the partners working on the BESA project. The developer had once planned to build a 23-acre mixed-use community at the site before putting the land back on the market during the COVID-19 pandemic. The firm then sold much of the land to Fulcrum.
Rolex and Chanel
Renderings submitted to the city show a dense shopping center of six multi-level buildings occupied by luxury-brand shops and boutiques, a contrast to the dining-centric development at the Pearl.
The lineup of stores could include high-end fashion stores such as Gucci, Peter Millar and Rolex, wellness and beauty the likes of Chanel, and heritage brands like Lucchese and Ralph Lauren, according to a sales brochure.
The first phase of the project will feature 175,000 square feet of retail space and a planned second phase will feature mixed-use spaces, including office, retail, hospitality and additional retail, according to the brochure.
Design plans reflect the color and materials palette of the Pearl, a walkable development of restaurants, small shops, apartments and a five-star hotel that’s drawn booming residential development to Tobin Hill and significantly raised property values in Government Hill.
The shopping center would be built on parcels bounded by Broadway Street to the west, Casa Blanca Street to the south, North Alamo Street to the east and the 1800 Broadway apartments to the north.
Another large parcel behind BESA would be used for surface parking until a future phase of the project is developed.
In January, the commission granted conceptual approval for the plans with several stipulations. One of those was that the applicant work to relocate a historic house on the property to another lot within the neighborhood versus several miles east as planned.
A site at 1606 N. Alamo St. is now the target destination for the stately neoclassical revival-style house.
Commissioners also previously asked the designers to submit a detailed landscape plan and to create more shade for pedestrians along Broadway Street.
With those conditions now met, city staff recommended approval for the plans and commissioners gave it the green light.
Benjamin Dreszer, president and partner of Fulcrum Development, said in January that he expected the project to be completed in less than two years from the start of construction and the first retail tenants to open in late 2027.
