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Southstar acquired the former Lone Star Brewery complex in January. The company is seeking to buy the adjacent Newell property and sites owned by CPS Energy south of Lone Star and across the San Antonio River.<\/p>\n
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Andrew J. Whitaker\/San Antonio Express-News<\/p>\n
For many San Antonians, hearing about another developer\u2019s plans<\/a> for the dilapidated Lone Star Brewery complex south of downtown triggers deja vu.<\/p>\n Executives at Southstar<\/a>, the property\u2019s latest owner, say they get it.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the first person who\u2019s come to talk to you about Lone Star in a few years,\u201d chief operating officer Gretchen Howell told Lavaca residents at a recent neighborhood meeting. \u201cA lot of people have tried. I\u2019m not going to sugarcoat it: it\u2019s a hard site.\u201d<\/p>\n But she also said, \u201cWe can actually move this site forward.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Southstar has recently begun publicly laying out the contours of what it wants to do with the former brewery complex and nearby properties. The redevelopment could include building a mix of housing types, restaurants, bars, shops, spaces for artists and public plazas over a decade.<\/p>\n Since buying Lone Star in January, the New Braunfels-based company has increased security, removed stairwells in the graffiti-riddled buildings and encircled the property with a stronger fence to try to keep people from breaking in.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n RELATED: With Lone Star Brewery in new hands, neighbors wonder: Is 6th time the charm for redevelopment?<\/a><\/p>\n Southstar has agreements to purchase the Newell site next to Lone Star and CPS Energy\u2019s properties just south of the former brewery and across the San Antonio River, including the defunct Mission Road power plant. The acquisitions would give the company control of 57 acres.<\/p>\n The company is asking residents to fill out an online survey about what they want to see at the properties and has received about 400 responses so far, Howell said.<\/p>\n Southstar\u2019s top priority is overhauling Lone Star Boulevard, an east-west road running along the north edge of the brewery site that\u2019s lined with crumbling sidewalks, no curbs and few lights, Howell said.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The city allocated $5 million in its 2017 bond program for reconstructing and widening the road, but that work never happened \u2014 because previous Lone Star owners failed to make progress on their redevelopment plans.<\/p>\n The City Council in 2021 also approved $24 million worth of subsidies for\u00a0GrayStreet Partners and Midway<\/a> to remake the complex, including reimbursements from the Inner City tax increment reinvestment zone.<\/p>\n Southstar has applied for funding from the city\u2019s Westside and Inner City reinvestment zones to upgrade the road and make other changes to the properties. With such zones, increases in property tax revenue from new development are used to reimburse companies for public improvements.<\/p>\n An estimate Southstar commissioned from an engineering firm in May puts the cost of improving the street at $6.7 million, according to a document released\u00a0in response to a public records request.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n