San Antonio’s New Streetcar System, Coming Soon

Posted on January 13, 2012 by - Uncategorized

Our city leaders, county leaders, and VIA have secured the funds to begin construction of San Antonio’s new streetcar system. Vianna Davila explains in this article for the Express-News how they were able to do it.

Local funds for streetcar found

Two lines, four directions — without federal help.
By Vianna Davila, San Antonio Express-News, Thursday, November 10, 2011

County and VIA Metropolitan Transit officials have identified enough local funds to build the city’s first two streetcar lines without help from the federal government.

They will announce the funding strategies and how they cobbled together the $59 million they needed to finish the system at a news conference today.The total cost for VIA’s expansion is $239 million, which includes money for two downtown streetcar lines running north and east, and west and south, plus a slew of other transit projects in and beyond downtown.

1800 Broadway, Coming Soon

Posted on January 13, 2012 by - Uncategorized

Here’s a report on a new apartment project being built on Broadway and E. Grayson across from the Pearl. Work is well under way at this point. Also cool that my friend, Patrick Shearer, had a quote in the article.

A new luxury development near the Pearl

By Valentino Lucio,  San Antonio Express-News, Friday, December 2, 2011

A new development that offers luxury living is moving into an area along Broadway that has seen a boom in residential construction.

Work already has started on the 1800 Broadway, a multifamily project that will become part of the redevelopment and urbanization efforts along the northern stretch of the River Walk.

Curtis Bowers Front Porch Realty, LLC San Antonio Southtown Lavaca King William

The 1800 Broadway will be comprised of 230-unit luxury apartment homes located just north of downtown near the Pearl Brewery. The project is expected to be completed in March 2013. ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF CRITERION DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS Photo: CRITERION DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS, COURTESY ILLUSTRATION

Situated at the corner of Broadway and East Grayson Street, the four-story complex, which boasts a modernized art deco design, will offer 230 luxury apartments, said W. Pretlow Riddick, principal and president of Criterion Development Partners, one of the firms developing the project.

San Antonio’s Streetcar Suburbs

Posted on January 13, 2012 by - Uncategorized

As San Antonio begins to rebuild our streetcar system it’s important to reflect on how the streetcars of the past helped shape our center city. This is a good piece written by Christine Vina.

Building San Antonio: The streetcar suburbs of old and new

Written by Christine Vina and posted in the San Antonio Express-News on November 27, 2011

If you take a look at the streetcar map of early 1920s San Antonio, it is quite easy to identify the neighborhoods that were connected by the 19 different streetcar lines that existed at the time. If one lived or worked within the original 36 square miles of the city (roughly the area bounded by Hildebrand Avenue, Rio Grande, Division/Morill Avenues, and 19th/24th streets), you were ‘free’ to travel around the city, and the local commerce located along these major transit routes offered additional economic development benefits to the community.

NEW LISTING – 117 Panama 78210 – $259,000

Posted on December 31, 2011 by - Uncategorized

Curtis Bowers King William Lavaca Southtown San Antonio CVF Homes

117 Panama 78210

 

Two story dream home in Lavaca priced to move quickly. Completely renovated home sits on large lot and features a contemporary kitchen with Bosch appliances, tankless water heater, insulated walls, spray foam insulated attic and sub-floor, high efficiency HVAC system, new concrete pier foundation, new electric system, new plumbing, and more. Private master suite upstairs is stunning with cedar added to mimic exposed rafters. Seller renovated 123 Panama and many others in Southtown. Come take a look.

Click on the photo for more pictures and information about the home.

The Death of the Fringe Suburb

Posted on December 13, 2011 by - Uncategorized

This op-ed piece was recently posted in The New York Times. I see San Antonio moving in the direction he speaks of with our city, county, and VIA electing to move forward with their light rail plans and also with the continued work of the HemisFair Park Area Redevelopment Corporation as they finish their master plan that will lay out the future renewal of HemisFair.

The Death of the Fringe Suburb

By CHRISTOPHER B. LEINBERGER  Published: November 25, 2011 in The New York Times

DRIVE through any number of outer-ring suburbs in America, and you’ll see boarded-up and vacant strip malls, surrounded by vast seas of empty parking spaces. These forlorn monuments to the real estate crash are not going to come back to life, even when the economy recovers. And that’s because the demand for the housing that once supported commercial activity in many exurbs isn’t coming back, either.

By now, nearly five years after the housing crash, most Americans understand that a mortgage meltdown was the catalyst for the Great Recession, facilitated by underregulation of finance and reckless risk-taking. Less understood is the divergence between center cities and inner-ring suburbs on one hand, and the suburban fringe on the other.

It was predominantly the collapse of the car-dependent suburban fringe that caused the mortgage collapse.

Front Porch Realty, LLC is now open for business

Posted on September 15, 2011 by - Uncategorized

I’ve recently opened my own agency and today the new signs are out. Let me know your thoughts on the new (albeit temporary) design. I’m working with my Graphic Designer on a whole branding and design package. More to follow.

Front Porch Realty, LLC

Front Porch Realty, LLC

 

HemisView Farmers’ Market in Lavaca starts tomorrow

Posted on September 1, 2011 by - Uncategorized

 

HemisView Farmers' Market

HemisView Farmers' Market in Lavaca

Drove by the intersection of Cesar Chavez (Durango Blvd) and Labor St this afternoon. This picture shows they are well on their way to hosting tomorrow’s inaugural Farmers’ Market. The event begins at 3pm and goes to 7pm. They plan to have the market every First Friday of each month. This will be a wonderful addition for Lavaca, Southtown, and all of Downtown.

Here’s a link to more information on the event:

http://www.lavaca.net/2011/08/hemisview-farmers-market/

Cevallos Lofts video featuring Southtown

Posted on August 7, 2011 by - Uncategorized

Cevallos Lofts will be a great addition to Southtown. We’re excited to have all of the new neighbors moving in very soon. The sales team at Cevallos Lofts created this great video highlighting the great people and places that make up Southtown. Check it out.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ys2GN3YkBd0&w=500&h=400&rel=0]

Be sure to visit their website as well. Cevallos Lofts

 

Welcome New Neighbors to 1221 Broadway

Posted on August 1, 2011 by - Uncategorized

The vacant building at 1221 Broadway now has new life. The first residents began moving in on Friday. Welcome new neighbors!

New life for longtime eyesore

First residents are moving into a long-unfinished, mixed-use development on Broadway.

By Valentino Lucio – San Antonio Express-News  Monday 8/1/11

The 1221 Broadway Building is seen in this Friday July 29, 2011 aerial pictures. I-35 is seen at the left of the frame going top to bottom. US 281 is seen at the top of the frame going left to right. Photo: Express-News, WILLIAM LUTHER

 

After sitting vacant for half a decade, the 1221 Broadway now has signs of life as its first apartment residents began moving in on Friday.

On its opening day, 72 people had signed leases and only five units were left.

The mixed-use project, which has an industrial urban style, will be released in five phases, and the first four are expected to be on line by October, said David Adelman, a principal at Cross & Co., which controls a partnership that owns the property.

The last phase, which will be a commercial front along Broadway, is expected to be completed by February. Those spaces will house the leasing office and could possibly accommodate a restaurant, Adelman added.