A company behind the development of 488 rental homes at Brooks is suing the city of San Antonio over the closure of eastbound traffic on Sidney Brooks Drive from South New Braunfels Avenue to Josue Sanchez Street. The company alleges the road closure is cutting off access to the Los Cielos at Brooks community. Shown is a sign at the entrance to Brooks.
San Antonio Express-News file photo
Road construction can be a nuisance for drivers and businesses affected by closures.
The company behind a large rental-home development on 70 acres at Brooks on the Southeast Side says the shutdown of eastbound traffic along Sidney Brooks Drive comes at the “worst possible time” for it, so it has sued the city of San Antonio in an effort to restore two-way traffic on the route.
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Provident Group — Brooks Properties LLC, a Baton Rouge, La., company, alleges the city’s “improvident decision” to shut down the primary road access to the 488-home Los Cielos at Brooks community is happening during the “height” of leasing season.
“The City took this action without coordinating with Brooks Properties LLC or its partner Preston Hollow Community Capital … without preparing a mandated written takings impact assessment, and without regard for the devastating consequences to the hundreds of San Antonio families actively seeking housing at Los Cielos,” the lawsuit says. “Without full access, prospective residents will not be able to find and visit Los Cielos.”
Preston Hollow, a Dallas-based finance company that owned the land lease before selling it to Brooks Properties, tried to work with the city “in good faith to minimize the harm,” but those overtures were rejected, the suit says.
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On Tuesday, the city told Brooks Properties that the roadwork could no longer be delayed and would resume the next day, spurring Brooks Properties to file suit in state District Court in San Antonio.
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Brooks Properties seeks a temporary restraining order and ultimately a permanent injunction to prevent the closure of the southern segment of Sidney Brooks Drive, running eastbound from South New Braunfels Avenue to Josue Sanchez Street, through Aug. 31. A TRO hearing is set for Monday.
The city does not believe the lawsuit has merit, spokesman Brian Chasnoff said in an email.
“The City’s priority is to maintain safe roadways for residents, businesses, and motorists while this work is underway,” he said. “The traffic plan for Sidney Brooks Drive is designed to support construction while preserving access to nearby properties.”
Dallas attorney Jared Eisenberg, who represents Brooks Properties, declined to comment.
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Brooks Properties alleges the road closure amounts to “inverse condemnation.”
The city’s action “constitutes a taking, damaging, or destruction of Plaintiff’s Property for public use without adequate compensation because it is a material and substantial impairment of access to the Property,” the suit says.
The company also alleges the city violated the state’s Private Real Property Rights Preservation Act.
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The work includes a four-lane concrete roadway, turn lanes, sidewalk, curbs, drainage improvements, traffic signal improvements, pedestrian lighting, landscaping and utility improvements.
Brook Properties says in its suit that the closure will “inflict irreparable harm” on the property and the community it serves. The company is affiliated with Provident Resources Group, a nonprofit that is working to deliver “essential community infrastructure,” according to its website.
In 2022, Preston Hollow closed on a $185 million tax-exempt bond financing related to the development of Los Cielos in partnership with Brooks Development Authority, which owns and manages the 1,308-acre Brooks community.
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In the suit, Brooks Properties says that 140 homes are currently occupied while another 100 home are being marketed for lease.
The “primary leasing window” for the homes is March 1 through Aug. 30, it adds in the suit.