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Rise of the Pearl: How a Historic Brewery Transformed a City

“The Pearl is more about community than commerce,” Shown said. “When we started, that’s how we decided we would measure the success – whether we were catalytic to the neighborhood and created a spark. That has become a filter through which all our decisions passed. If we are successful in that regard, we would be an economic success.”

Earlier this month, Shown and the development team gathered for a three-day visioning session to plan the next phase.

Already underway are buildings at Broadway and Avenue B that will bring 344,000 sq. ft. more commercial office space to the Pearl, and a new 223-unit Brewery South apartment complex, set to begin construction this fall.

What will become of the 2.76-acre former Samuels Glass complex on Newell Street is still being discussed. “Some really cool ideas have come out,” Shown said, and like the original structures at the Pearl, the glass factory building will not be demolished. “It has some great potential.”

The Pearl is one of 25 developments from around the world selected as finalists for ULI’s 2017 Global Awards for Excellence, widely recognized as one of the land use industry’s most prestigious award programs. Winners from among this year’s finalists – three in Asia, two in Europe, and 20 in North America – will be announced in October.

“[The Pearl has] been a real success not because we focused on the bottom line,” Shown said. “But because we focused on San Antonio and the community.”

This is a wonderful article about how the Pearl kind of ignited what have going on right now, and how it invigorated the area.