SAN ANTONIO – A plan to revitalize the Victoria Courts Commons area near Hemisfair Park has been decades in the making, and now it's becoming a reality.
You may have seen Hemisview Village and Refugio Apartments in that area. And now, a new higher-end apartment complex owned by the San Antonio Housing Authority will soon be going up. It’s the fourth phase of the San Antonio Housing Authority’s Victoria Commons Revitalization Plan.
The plan was put in place after the demolition of the public housing complex known as the Victoria Courts apartments in 2000.
SAHA said the new complex, 100 Labor, will be high end. The development will have 216 units, 30 different floor plans and three to four spots for commercial space going between two now empty lots on Labor Street and Caesar Chavez Boulevard.
“Granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances -- all the lipstick on the inside that makes it more beautiful and more expensive,” said Tim Alcott, a real estate and legal services officer for SAHA.
Cost for construction is estimated at $45 million. Rent at market price would be around $1,200 to $1,800 a month. However, SAHA wanted to make the sleek apartments available to the lower-income community that works in the neighborhood.
Twenty percent of the units are reserved for affordable housing, with rent around $500 to $700 a month.
Alcott said there is a lack of affordable housing downtown.
“There are lots of folks that are waiters, restaurant managers in the service industry downtown, and you can't find quality affordable housing downtown,” Alcott said.
Alcott said with the conceptual approval from the city's Historic Design Review Commission, the timeline continues to move forward with construction starting next summer and a goal of completion by 2021.
To see renderings of the building, click here.