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  #1  
Old Posted Jan 27, 2007, 1:57 PM
SAguy SAguy is offline
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Arrow SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro News Thread

Hardberger sees 'golden years' for S.A.


In an address laced with bold statements about his vision for the city's future, Mayor Phil Hardberger on Thursday called the coming year "a time for doing" and vowed to lead San Antonio into unprecedented growth and prosperity.

Addressing a downtown hotel ballroom packed with city, county and business leaders, Hardberger struck a relentlessly optimistic tone in his State of the City speech, promising big changes in the coming year, with more to come thereafter.

The changes this year include $550 million in new public spending he plans to put before voters in May as well as an assortment of public and private investments planned around the city in the coming months.

In a 25-minute speech interrupted a half-dozen times by applause, Hardberger said 2006, his first full year in office, had been a time for planning.

The current year, he said, "will be a year to make good on the promise of our dreams, and a year to see a new San Antonio rise before our eyes."


He said the effort is well under way to "rebuild the foundation of our city ... that will allow our city to prosper not just for the next decade, but for the next century."Hardberger, who has announced his intention to seek a second two-year term, said the May 12 bond election — in which the city hopes to win voters' approval for $550 million worth of major street paving and storm drainage projects as well as park improvements — will be a key element to lead San Antonio's "emergence into its golden years."

"The importance of (the bond's) successful passage cannot be overstressed," he said. "A bond election is a city's vote of confidence in itself. It means that San Antonio's citizens have optimism about their city and their future" and that "they trust their government to deliver."

Despite the size of the bond proposal — the largest in the city's history — Hardberger stressed there wouldn't be a tax increase.

That drew applause at the Chamber of Commerce-sponsored luncheon.

He said the bond package, while unprecedented in size, "is also historic for the manner in which it will be spent."

The proposal would provide $300 million for street paving and sidewalk improvements, $150 million for drainage projects, $50 million for acquisition of parklands and upgrades to existing parks and $50 million for community initiative projects to be split evenly among the 10 City Council districts.

Hardberger said City Manager Sheryl Sculley, whom he hired, is "the finest city manager in the United States."

The hard-driving manager created the citizens bond panels that will guide the allocation of the funds.

Four 32-member panels have headed the different bond initiatives. They have, for the most part, endorsed spending proposals developed by city staff. The panels' outlines of how to spend the bond funds will be presented to the City Council next week.

The mayor highlighted unprecedented business growth and said the developments of the coming year will be the foundation from which business and public/private ventures flourish.

He said a host of business growth would contribute to the city's national prominence, including AT&T's local construction of the largest voice and data network in the world; the decision by Tesoro, a Fortune 500 firm, to build a new facility on 122 acres on the North Side; the opening of a $24 million, 258,000 square-foot research and development lab at Brooks City-Base; and the planned construction of a $550 million data center by Microsoft.

The mayor also noted that Fort Sam Houston is set to spend $1.6 billion for new construction.

Hardberger said that within the next three months, three major public-private ventures will be launched including a new homeless shelter, the redevelopment of Main Plaza and the Museum Reach of the River Improvement Project.

Hardberger spoke of the foresight of Walter Mathis, who developed the once-seedy, now-trendy King William neighborhood, as the blueprint for his own vision of park development.

Key to that vision will be the $36 million in bonds that will be used to purchase the Voelcker Ranch.

A Hardberger favorite, the 204-acre property that he predicted will become "one of the finest urban parks in the United States," is virgin land he termed "a breathtaking expanse of urban landscape" containing centuries-old trees.

"To walk among those trees — many older than the heroes of the Alamo, older than the Alamo itself — is to know our history," he said, drawing sustained applause from the overflow crowd.
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  #2  
Old Posted Jan 27, 2007, 5:31 PM
shane453 shane453 is offline
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Aren't State of the City speeches fun? Everyone gets so pumped up.
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  #3  
Old Posted Jan 28, 2007, 7:20 AM
kornbread kornbread is offline
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Corporate year-in-review all-hands meetings are the same.

The thing that's really crazy is 2 year terms and 2 term "term limits". That's almost no time to get anything done. Especially when you consider that term limits have always been in place, but they have generally been referred to as elections. Anyway...

In this case I can understand the mayor's enthusiasm. There are a lot things happening that could really impact future economic development for the city. I think the real benefits may not happen until long after he leaves office, but here's to getting pumped up
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Old Posted Jan 28, 2007, 7:37 PM
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Originally Posted by shane453 View Post
Aren't State of the City speeches fun? Everyone gets so pumped up.
He has to be upbeat....what's he supposed to say "this sucks, that sucks, we suck, they suck everything sucks!!"
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  #5  
Old Posted Sep 2, 2021, 12:29 AM
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Sure,

Hardberger has been a visionary for San Antonio and continues to be visionary.
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Originally Posted by texastarkus View Post
He has to be upbeat....what's he supposed to say "this sucks, that sucks, we suck, they suck everything sucks!!"
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  #6  
Old Posted Sep 21, 2021, 11:21 PM
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Deal to preserve Honey Creek moves forward with Texas Parks and Wildlife approval

https://sanantonioreport.org/deal-honey-creek-texas-p

Commissioners on Thursday unanimously voted in favor of a land deal involving the department, the Nature Conservancy, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation that would preserve 515 acres at the headwaters of Honey Creek. The private ranch land intended for purchase lies upstream of Guadalupe River State Park and Honey Creek State Natural Area off of State Highway 46 in Comal County.

The land is slated for a more than 1,600-home development and three schools. Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk, owners of the property known as Honey Creek Ranch, have already secured a permit for a sewage treatment plant and a contract to supply water to the property


Water supply contract could derail dreams of a park at Honey Creek

https://sanantonioreport.org/water-s...=widget_item-1

When Texas Parks and Wildlife commissioners gave their approval to turn a ranch upstream of Honey Creek into a public park rather than a controversial subdivision, opponents of the development rejoiced.

But this week, many were learning more about a looming issue that could kill the park proposal in its early stages. David Holmes, a representative of landowners Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk, met with neighbors and local officials Monday to detail how an existing contract to supply water for the proposed development threatens to derail the deal.
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Old Posted Sep 21, 2021, 11:34 PM
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As Walmart and other chains move in, Castroville families band together to preserve downtown’s character

https://sanantonioreport.org/castrov...wn-investment/

Serious conversations about forming a fund to purchase downtown buildings started in May, and in July, the Kempf brothers and a few associates hosted what might be considered a come-to-Jesus meeting in the big ballroom of the restored events center on Fiorella Street, a 1907 building that’s been a lot of things over the years, from hardware store to saloon.
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Old Posted Oct 18, 2021, 6:55 PM
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Rare opportunity: Century-old former cattle market property up for sale

https://sanantonioreport.org/century...ards-for-sale/

For the first time in 132 years, a parcel of land west of downtown San Antonio, where an iconic brown and white longhorn statue guards the gates, is for sale.

The fifth-generation owners of Union Stock Yards, a former cattle market founded by a group of ranchers in 1889, put the 30-acre property on the market in September.

It is the first sale of the property since Dr. Amos Graves, a surgeon at Santa Rosa Hospital, purchased it in 1894. At the time, San Antonio’s population numbered about 37,000 and the Bexar County Courthouse would soon be built.
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Old Posted Oct 19, 2021, 11:58 PM
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Express-News owner finds buyer for its historic downtown building

https://sanantonioreport.org/san-ant...building-sale/

The owner of the Express-News Building has entered into a contract to sell the 1929 downtown office building that formerly housed the newspaper to an Austin-based real estate and investment firm.

Sutton Waller Creek, a company affiliated with The Sutton Company, plans to buy the building from Hearst Corp., the New York-based parent company of the San Antonio Express-News, according to a recent report by the newspaper
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  #10  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2021, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by kingkirbythe.... View Post
Express-News owner finds buyer for its historic downtown building

https://sanantonioreport.org/san-ant...building-sale/

The owner of the Express-News Building has entered into a contract to sell the 1929 downtown office building that formerly housed the newspaper to an Austin-based real estate and investment firm.

Sutton Waller Creek, a company affiliated with The Sutton Company, plans to buy the building from Hearst Corp., the New York-based parent company of the San Antonio Express-News, according to a recent report by the newspaper
I worked the night shift in the mail room one summer in about 1988. One night a co-worker and I gave ourselves a little sneak tour of the building and found our way up to the "tower" balcony. Between the old offices and large spaces like the mail room, the building would make for awesome condos and/or apartments.

They might even keep the historic building and tear down the mail room and other parts in the back and replace them with a lovely parking garage.


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  #11  
Old Posted Oct 20, 2021, 6:09 PM
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Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown View Post
I worked the night shift in the mail room one summer in about 1988. One night a co-worker and I gave ourselves a little sneak tour of the building and found our way up to the "tower" balcony. Between the old offices and large spaces like the mail room, the building would make for awesome condos and/or apartments.

They might even keep the historic building and tear down the mail room and other parts in the back and replace them with a lovely parking garage.


https://s.hdnux.com/photos/15/14/77/.../5/920x920.jpg
"The Express-News Building is Sutton’s first purchase of a building in downtown San Antonio, according to the Express-News report. The company plans to seek historic tax credits and possibly city incentives to renovate the building, turning it into a possible hotel, multifamily housing, and restaurant space."

Yeah, the printing building will be torn down.

I have a friend who works at the Express-News who says that the rumor around the office is the sale was for $12,000,000.
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Old Posted Oct 20, 2021, 8:20 PM
Jake Tex Jake Tex is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kingkirbythe.... View Post
"The Express-News Building is Sutton’s first purchase of a building in downtown San Antonio, according to the Express-News report. The company plans to seek historic tax credits and possibly city incentives to renovate the building, turning it into a possible hotel, multifamily housing, and restaurant space."

Yeah, the printing building will be torn down.

I have a friend who works at the Express-News who says that the rumor around the office is the sale was for $12,000,000.
Yeah, I'd be surprised if they kept the rest of the industrial parts of the building. The historic part will be a beautiful front portion of whatever they build there. Would be very nice as multi-family.
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  #13  
Old Posted Oct 28, 2021, 9:16 PM
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Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown View Post
I worked the night shift in the mail room one summer in about 1988. One night a co-worker and I gave ourselves a little sneak tour of the building and found our way up to the "tower" balcony. Between the old offices and large spaces like the mail room, the building would make for awesome condos and/or apartments.

They might even keep the historic building and tear down the mail room and other parts in the back and replace them with a lovely parking garage.


https://s.hdnux.com/photos/15/14/77/.../5/920x920.jpg
I really hope Sutton will do something grand with this property. However, I'm a bit worried. and will take a wait-and-see approach to this. Just ask those CRE followers 80 miles north what they think of Sutton.

And, if he got it for $12 million - that's a steal.
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Old Posted Oct 20, 2021, 6:04 PM
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Renderings show details of forthcoming park near San Antonio's Hays Street Bridge

https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio...t?oid=27375971

Civil engineering company Dunaway is giving San Antonians a first glimpse of the long-awaited Berkley V. and Vincent M. Dawson Park being developed adjacent Hays Street Bridge, MySA reports.

The company unveiled renderings of the park earlier this week. The site will include a series of plazas, a 12,000-square-foot skate park, green space, a playground and an event area centered on a relocated gazebo from the Alamo grounds, according to Dunaway’s website.
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Old Posted Oct 25, 2021, 9:00 PM
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Splashtown closing after 37 years? City Council approves zoning change for Cavender car dealership

Bobby Cavender told San Antonio City Council that the family wants to put a Ford dealership where the water park currently stands

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021...ar-dealership/

SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio’s Splashtown water park could be closed for good if a deal goes through with Cavender Auto.
San Antonio City Council approved a zoning change Thursday that would allow for a car dealership to be built on the property.
Bobby Cavender told council members that the Cavender family is looking to buy the property because the owner of Splashtown “has decided to retire.”
Cavender said his auto dealer family wants to build a Ford dealership on the property. He said the deal would mean new jobs as they would probably be tripling their current staff and said many of those jobs would go to graduates of St. Philips and other technical schools in San Antonio.
Splashtown opened in San Antonio in 1985 as Waterpark USA. It was purchased from its second owner in 1991 by Chrismari Inc., and in 2006 President/General Manager Keith D. Kinney bought out the other shareholders’ interests in the property and became the sole owner, according to online sources.
Splashtown closed for the season on September 12.
KSAT has reached out to Splashtown management for comment.
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Old Posted Nov 4, 2021, 9:03 PM
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Conservation Society files complaint about the growing number of downtown murals

https://sanantonioreport.org/conserv...wntown-murals/

Not everyone is happy to see the growing number of colorful murals filling the walls of downtown San Antonio.

The Conservation Society of San Antonio sent a letter to Mayor Ron Nirenberg and the City Council in advance of Thursday’s council meeting, requesting “long-range planning” for new mural installations. The letter outlines concerns over the aesthetics of San Antonio’s future, pitting the city’s burgeoning mural scene against its historical character.
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  #17  
Old Posted Nov 5, 2021, 12:03 AM
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Oh god. These people are just the worst.
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Old Posted Nov 5, 2021, 2:56 AM
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Oh god. These people are just the worst.
While I normally agree, if you cannot change your window coverings in a “historic district” then some input might be needed.

I have seen some odd ones but none overly offensive to my personal sensibilities. (Minus the child on the side of the hospital, but I get the meaning and history).
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Old Posted Nov 5, 2021, 4:51 PM
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Oh god. These people are just the worst.

fighting to preserve cultural banality. do any of these people actually have any artistic vision?
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  #20  
Old Posted Nov 10, 2021, 5:12 PM
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Concerning Cultural Banality and Change,

Art is always a good thing. Not graffiti mind you, but True, art. In the past all the Drive-thru Movie Theaters had huge paintings upon the front side of their screens to look at as one sat waiting in line to enter. Good ones too. These theaters were all torn down in the name of change. Many were upset over this change. Because. For many people this was the only "Real Ort" they were ever exposed to.
Murals are good thing. These add to the richness of a City's character, Fundamentally. Many cities are doing this, not just us. Hell, a long time ago many buildings downtown had an enormous advertisement painted on their brick sides? Maybe their were whiners about this sort of painting back then too, I don't know. I do know people now, search for these "Ghost signs" upon the sides of downtown City buildings. They take pictures of these before these disappear or search for these advertisements online.
Multiculturalism adds flavor and depth to a society. If, the paintings are skillfully done. Who knows, these paintings might even inspire some small children from an early age who are so inclined.
Change will inspire some and only anger others. Even now as this is entered
some profound societal changes are happening which even I, have a difficult time accepting. I thought I was so modernized too. And. Thought I was very accepting of change.
Not so much as I thought.
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