Wonderful two bedroom and two bathroom home in Historic Lavaca. This home was renovated in 2007 to include foundation repairs, metal roof, and double pane windows throughout. An architecturally designed complementary addition was built to add modern amenities such as a master bath, dressing area with walk-in closet, laundry area, and a screen porch. Large lot includes a storage building. Great location in the neighborhood with easy access to Hwy 281.
Click on the photo for more pictures and information about the house.
Tonight was the Grand Opening of the much anticipated Alamo Street Eat ~ Bar. Steve and Jody Newman have transformed the former Acapulco Drive Inn into Southtown’s newest place to see and be seen. Judging by tonight’s crowd it was the place to be on a comfortable April evening. The venue will be open Tuesday through Sunday and will feature a rotating mixture of at least three to four of San Antonio’s finest Food Trucks. And of course it wouldn’t be a proper Southtown hang-out if it didn’t include a good selection of draft beers.
See the photos below for more details:
Alamo Street Eat ~ Bar in the shadow of the Tower of Americas
Hours of Operation
Tonight's Selection of Food Trucks
Two of tonight's Food Trucks
Jason Dady (sans backwards baseball cap) brought his DUK Truck
Contemporary construction in the center of the King William Historic District. This luxurious and spacious home has it all. A gourmet kitchen is at the heart of the open floor plan which allows for wonderful entertaining or simply spending a quiet evening in. The private master retreat features a dressing room wrapped with California Closets, two restful balconies, and a well appointed bath. The pool, yard, and patios provide great spaces for outdoor living. Impeccable condition and centrally located.
Click on the photo for more pictures and information about the home.
The recently cleared plot of land at the intersection of West Guenther and South Flores will soon feature an apartment development, The Viceroy. I drive by this intersection almost daily as my office is located just a few blocks south at the intersection of Cevallos and South Flores. I’ll enjoy watching this project go up as much as I’m enjoying watching Steel House Lofts going up now. The Viceroy, Steel House Lofts, and Cevallos Lofts will greatly increase the density in the area and bring with them new amenities for the neighborhood. The developer of The Viceroy, Landbridge Partners, recently successfully rezoned the old Lone Star Brewery. Keep your eyes on my post and I’ll update as I learn more about the plans for the brewery.
Below is the recent story run in The Express-News. The link to the story is also at the bottom of the post.
The Viceroy on the way to King William area
By Valentino Lucio Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Viceroy, drawing provided by developer
Historically, every king needed a viceroy.
So it’s appropriate that the King William area welcomes The Viceroy, a mixed-used development in the Southtown neighborhood that broke ground on Tuesday at the corner of West Guenther and South Flores streets.
The 48,000-square-foot building will have about 5,800 square feet of commercial space on the first floor, which could be used as light office or retail space, said Sunshine Thacker, the owner of Landbridge Partners, the project’s developer.
Robert Rivard, formerly with The Express-News, has launched a new blog devoted to extending the discussion to all things related to San Antonio’s revitalization of our downtown core. Check it out here. You can also sign up to be a contributor.
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.
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.
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.
I have somewhat mixed emotions on the closing of Acapulco Drive Inn. On the days it was open (very sporadically) it was a great place for neighbors to gather and catch up. I have a couple of neighbors that swear their dog would not let them walk by without them first stopping for a beer. It was a great place to stop by before or after walking to NIOSA or other Fiesta Events.
If you’re looking for another great neighborhood ice house to fill the void be sure to check out The Friendly Spot Ice House in the heart of Southtown. http://www.thefriendlyspot.com/
My hope is that the now vacant Acapulco will be taken over by another group that will fully utilize its prime location at the entrance of Southtown and add some vibrancy to the space.
This article in the Express-News does a good job of explaining the history of Acapulco Drive Inn, the role of an ice house, and the reason it is closing down.
