It’s been nearly 10 years since a developer first proposed building a luxury residential tower on a surface parking lot near Southtown and Hemisfair.
Recently, the project made headway when a city panel approved changes that took it from the 12 stories proposed over nine years ago to now 17 in plans approved by the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC).
The adjusted height puts it more in line with the city’s height-to-width ratio design guidelines, state the documents reviewed by the panel.
As the Durango Apartments has steadily grown in height with each passing OK from the commission, the developer is looking to renew an agreement with the city for incentives procured back in 2017.
That same year, the commission readily approved plans for the first three floors of the 12-story project in the La Villita Historic District, but didn’t like the other nine due to what it saw as interference with views of downtown San Antonio’s skyline.
Commissioners suggested that the tower at 427 S. Presa St. be designed taller and more slender, and asked for renderings that would “illustrate the impact of views to and from downtown from various points.”
A few months later, in 2018, the commission approved the conceptual designs, but as a 13-story, 70-unit building.
In December 2017, the city approved $3,051,326 in funding for the estimated $30 million project via the Hemisfair Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and the later-paused Center City Housing Incentive Policy (CCHIP).
Established in 2012, CCHIP was created to incentivize multi-family housing projects in eight targeted areas within the city. It was paused in 2017 in favor of creating affordable housing.
Bexar County also approved a 10-year, 40% tax abatement worth $349,475 for the project, led by Wimberley-based developer Tim Proctor of Lane Development. The project was expected to begin the same year, 2018, and take two years to complete.
By 2020, construction had not yet begun and its estimated cost in an amended CCHIP agreement had increased to $37.2 million.
A filing with the state shows a construction timeline on the now-$40 million apartments project kicks off in January with completion expected in late 2028.
The developer has requested an extension on the March 2021 start date prescribed in the amended agreement, and the city is reviewing the request, said a city spokeswoman. Proctor did not respond to a request for comments.
The incentives — as tax abatements, rebates and fee waivers — go into effect only after projects are completed.
A San Antonio River Authority $100,000 rebate grant offered in 2019 as reimbursement for including a stormwater collection cistern, bioretention or bioswale and a green roof into the project plans also has been withdrawn, according to the agency’s spokeswoman.
As for overall design of the project, the developer’s recent request for a certificate of appropriateness, approved by HDRC, called for increasing the height again — to 17 stories, or 195 feet tall — and several design changes, including to the facade and masonry.
In the plans, levels 2-4 are designed for vehicle parking. The architect is Austin-based Rhode Partners.
Design standards in the River Improvement Overlay have no height restrictions, according to documents from the Office of Historic Preservation, and downtown design guidelines state that towers should appear taller than they are wide.
The recently-opened Monarch San Antonio Hotel, at the corner of South Alamo and Market streets, is also 17 stories tall.
The apartment site is one block west of Hemisfair, across South St. Mary’s Street from the 349-unit Agave Apartments, one block east of the River Walk and a couple blocks from the ongoing office-to-residential conversion project, the Tower Life Building.
The Durango Apartments project uses the name of the downtown thoroughfare formerly named Durango Boulevard before it was changed to honor the late labor leader César E. Chávez in 2011.
Following shocking sexual misconduct allegations earlier this year, San Antonio voted on Aug. 20 to restore the street’s previous name. Street signs should start to reflect the change in the next month or so.
