City of SA creating new master plan for Midtown

[sirkingwilliam]

I found this little tidbit on Midtown.

A recent request for proposal that went out for a Midtown master plan got 19 responses from firms as far away as Boston; Portland, Ore.; and Pennsylvania, said Suzanne Scott, general manager of the San Antonio River Authority.

The budget will be around $310,000.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/business...nal_firms.html

[miaht82]

http://www.midtownbrackenridge.org/]

There was a meeting on Saturday. I wasn't able to go, but I would like to attend the next one (if anyone else is game.)

On the topic of Midtown, I found this article that passed me up about Broadway and the "lack of development" in the last few years. I would like for them to do a follow up in a couple of years on this.

Broadway plans stuck in neutral
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business..._99063449.html

Kind of a funny title for the article since within the article it talks of projects that are moving forward like 1221 and the ButterKrust Bakery building.

The Broadway is set to open in mid- to late August, with about a third of the building sold, according to Mike Reddell, who is marketing the property.

“We just think that whole area is really going to rebuild,” said B.J. “Red” McCombs, co-founder of Koontz-McCombs, the project's developer. “It's just a question of when.”

Between the two, the long-empty former ButterKrust bakery is poised to see some kind of activity, although officials with owner C.H. Guenther & Son weren't ready to say what.

“We are working on a plan for the redevelopment of the ButterKrust property,” said Thomas McRae, the company's lawyer. “While we're not able to give details at this time, we hope to have a decision in the next 90 days or so.”

...and if it's any indication of truth in that last statement, I saw some activity on the land next to the building while leaving Ft. Sam today out Cunningham/Broadway gate.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

http://www.mysanantonio.com/communit...105801728.html

I haven't been keeping up with the midtown master plan, but narrowing broadway and adding trees would be awesome.

[jaga185]

Redesigning Broadway sounds amazing. I find it hilarious that it can accomodate an average of 55k cars per day yet only half use it, crazy! Oh well, I'm glad some one thought to do something about that.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

http://www.midtownbrackenridge.org/c...nning-efforts/

Click "draft master plan" to see the final Midtown Plan. And might I add, it looks pretty sexy.

[sirkingwilliam]

I like it.

So there will be a Midtown and Midtown Brackenridge? That'll get a little confusing.

[miaht82]

Just gave it a brief overview and it looks pretty good. The *only* thing that I kind of have a problem with is the reverse street parking. I think that parallel parking would/should be sufficient enough if it is allowed through the surrounding streets off of Broadway or St. Marys. Instead of adding that couple of extra feet to the parallel parking space to make a car fit at an angle, add that extra space to the sidewalk to make the walk more enjoyable or give bicycles a little extra space.
Limited parking makes the area pedestrian friendly in a 2-for-1; drivers slow down when they are looking for parking and when they do find parking, it usually is a couple of blocks from their final destination, adding more pedestrians to the sidewalks.

[jaga185]

I agree with Miah, wide sidewalks are always a plus in my book.

This area is poised for tremendous urban growth, and this plan really highlights those factors. With the Witte expansion, Pearl, and River North finally finishing up... oh man, I'm getting all kinds of excited.