{SA} Downtown SA from a new East Side

[sirkingwilliam]

The city recently finished street improvements to Commerce Street east of downtown, which included buried power lines and telephone lines new light fixtures, wider sidewalks and better aesthetics.

So last week I decided to go out and take some pictures with my new E-500 Olympus camera. Some are a little blurry as I was getting used to the camera.

Enjoy.

East Commerce looking East


This is the brick at every intersection


Old sign on an old building with great potential

[sirkingwilliam]

I found this one in the downtown thread showing how it looked before:

[oldmanshirt]

Thanks for those pics. Let's hope these improvements spread to other, less visible sections of the East Side.

btw, that Holiday Inn Express is sweet-lookin'. I was driving around down there sometime last summer taking pics of the Vidorra when I first spotted it. Had no idea it was there. Too bad it isn't taller than three stories, tho.

[METALMiKE]

WOW . Thanks for the pics skw I didn't even know that was going on!

[verbl]

Bravo SA it looks real good from that side now.

[texboy]

Buried power lines do WONDERS for a street....East Commerce definitely has the ability now to come into great things!

[KevinFromTexas]

Very nice. Power lines can have a neat effect in the right place, but yeah, it was better that they move those. Much better. Congrats on the new camera.

[sirkingwilliam]

The Friedrich building (to the far right) has so much potential and is such a big building and I know they've tried in the past and had some success in leasing some of the building to businesses (small web companies, etc) but for the most part it's sat their and had nothing happen to it in a grander way.

Now with the street improvements, I can see something amazing happen with that property.

[sirkingwilliam]

From July 29th:

LINK

Revamped Commerce might revive East Side

The completion of a roughly $9 million improvement project on East Commerce Street should prove the city’s commitment to developing the East Side, District 2 Councilwoman Sheila McNeil said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday.

“We have an energy, we have a synergy, we have support,” McNeil said. “Now all we need to do is continue the momentum.”

The completion of the yearlong project to repair and beautify the street from the railroad tracks to South Palmetto Avenue comes months before a proposal for a new arts and entertainment district zoning designation is tentatively scheduled to go before City Council and as the city is gearing up for the major expansion of Fort Sam Houston.

“This is going to make people think differently about the East Side,” McNeil said, adding the decision to expand Fort Sam as part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure proceedings is the economic engine that could spark growth in the area, if the city is willing to harness and invest in it.

The road improvement portion of the project cost roughly $3.8 million, money allocated as part of a 2003 bond package. The $5 million for putting the utility lines underground came from CPS Energy’s Community Infrastructure and Economic Development Fund.

“This is an asset for the East Side,” said San Antonio for Growth on the East Side chairman Leonard Young. “Developers come to communities when they know the communities are interested in development.”

Business owners along East Commerce said they were relieved that the construction was completed and saw it as a way to draw traffic out of downtown further into the East Side.

“Now this looks very good,” Joe Heye of Heye Refrigeration Co., said as he looked at the crowd mulling about the street Tuesday morning.

“I didn’t think we would get as many things out of it as we did,” he added, explaining there have been many past promises to transform East Commerce into the bustling corridor it was in years past.

The project also included custom street lamps, grates and benches designed by Express-News artist James Hendricks.

The benches represent different aspects of the community, such as the Asian-influenced architecture in Denver Heights and the weekly San Antonio Register.

Each bench has a plaque explaining its significance that is based on information provided by area neighborhood associations.

“It’s a good start, it’s a very good start,” said Carlos Richardson, president of the Denver Heights/Nevada Street Neighborhood Associatio

[Boquillas]

Nice lookin' street! And great pics, skw! I'm also a satisfied E-500 owner.

[ydoc14]

Nice pics. I've never been on Commerce heading into DT...I think I'm gonna have to check it out now though

[satxgreen]

they are getting ready for six street in SA.... isn't this the same road they wanted to turn into clubs and nightlife??

they did some nice work!!!

[texboy]

Well that article did mention they were trying to rezone it for arts and entertainment. That'd be great! SA needs it.....those party busses up to Austin would finally go out of business! lol

[sirkingwilliam]

Does anyone have any details on the large master planned urban development a Lubbock developer has for the near east side?

I believe a couple of months ago they were seeking TIRZ funding for infrastructure improvements.

[miaht82]

All I've ever seen is this old thing.

[sirkingwilliam]

That's from 2003.

What I was talking about is this:

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/MYS...html13679.html

The Inner City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone board is set to consider three proposals to help fund new projects in the roughly 2.5-square-mile area to the east and south of downtown.

The projects are a St. Paul Square-area parking garage; the University of the Incarnate Word's planned East Side Community Clinic at Walters and Commerce streets, which will focus mainly on optometry; and assistance with infrastructure for a master-planned development proposed by a Lubbock-based developer.

The board will consider the three applications at a meeting tentatively set for 10 a.m. Friday at the Housing and Neighborhood Services Department at 1400 S. Flores St.

TIRZs distribute a portion of the increase in property tax values in the defined zone due to improvements in order to offset costs of public infrastructure or as an incentive to entice developers into certain areas.

The St. Paul Square Association, made up of area property and business owners, along with two subsidiaries of Zachary Realty Inc., requested $3 million in TIRZ funds over six years to fund infrastructure costs for a $10.5 million project to build a roughly 600-space parking garage at a property the group is in the process of acquiring from the city at 243 Center St.

The University of the Incarnate Word is seeking roughly $1.2 million in TIRZ funds over five years for infrastructure costs for its $10.5 million project to build a two-story community clinic at Walters and Commerce. The clinic, set to open in 2010, is being developed in concert with the opening of the university's optometry school in 2009, the second such school in the state.

The Lubbock-based developer is seeking an unspecified amount of TIRZ funds to offset the cost of infrastructure for a development project on the near East Side. Specifics of the project were not listed in the application submitted by the McDougal Cos.

The developer and its owner, Delbert McDougal, have nearly completed a 325-acre private redevelopment project in a previously blighted area of Lubbock. McDougal Cos. also is pursuing redevelopment projects in downtown Lubbock as well as a 600-acre area south of Irving, both of which involved some public funds, according to articles in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal and the Dallas Morning News.

The Inner City TIRZ is set to expire in 2015. Projects in District 2 have included improvements to cemeteries near East Commerce Street and partial funding of a quiet zone between Sherman and Commerce streets.