Gardendale Neighborhood Association
Update: The zoning credits and commissioners case zoning was approved. All that’s left is the approval from the district, which was always going to happen.
The project is relying on two large tax breaks, a national historic designation they want to apply for and senior housing tax credit. So the people will pay through taxes to subsidize this.
This is a Castillo developer partner approved project. Scobey and the Rich Book building were both blocked, and the original vision of the Grocer Building was for profitable businesses, and now it will be taxpayer subsidized development.
Economic development is being blocked in the area by the City, and the Historic board which for some reason has way more power over development than it should.
The prior project PCDTX that didn’t get off the ground was the Cattleman’s Square Lofts, a similar project with pie in the sky rents of $321. Supposedly development was going to start on that in 2021. This was also a D5 Castillo approved project.
What follows below are communications between Gardendale and Zoning for the city regarding this case. Questions we have that weren’t clear, failures of basic process, and ultimately a runaround of, “not my job” responses.
J R <@gmail.com> Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 9:28 PM
To:
Regarding this case, a meeting was held by representatives of the developer with Gardendale board members. At the time, some information was conveyed but because of the nature of the meeting location (karaoke night at a restaurant), not a lot of the information was understandable. We were looking to have that group lead by Michael Shackleford, who left early without notice, meet with the people of the area to give more details, at a location that was more appropriate for the presentation.
I’ve searched https://www.sa.gov/Directory/Departments/DSD/Boards-Commissions/Zoning-Commission and can not find the zoning packet for this that usually has the plans and further details, nor is the schedule for February 6th currently up, only Zoning Commission Hearing Date: 02/20/2024, seen here: https://docsonline.sanantonio.gov/FileUploads/DSD/WeeklyReport.pdf
The areas of concern we have are:
Taxes: It was understood that tax breaks related to having the building designated as a historic location, even going so far as to apply for a national historic designation.
How long would a historic tax break last?
Who pays for the loss of taxes on this property if the developer isn’t?
The developer seems keen on acquiring a National Historic Designation for this property, but if it’s only to avoid taxes on the property for development purposes, this is an abuse of that historic designation. The building from what I recall is only a brick building, nothing special about it’s architecture and the type of business done prior was food storage. Personally I can’t see how this is of any historic value alone.
Taxes: Senior living tax break.
How long would this tax break last?
Who pays for the loss of taxes on this property if the developer isn’t?
48 units are planned for development.
How many of those are 1 bedroom vs 2 bedroom?
There is also going to be an allocation of 30%, 50%, and 60% cost based on median income for the area. The percentages might be different, but this is what I recall.
How many units of each percentage will fit into each category for affordable housing? For example, how many 1bdr will be 30% of median income, how many 2br at 30%, etc.
Security: It was brought up during the meeting (that I could hear) an issue where security at a senior living housing facility nearby was not sufficient for the area, given the high rate of homeless, drug addicts, etc.
How does the developer plan to handle security onsite? Keyed entry? Security guard? Cameras?
Parking: It was mentioned that IDZ-2 designation was needed to specifically bypass the requirement to have parking appropriate for the amount of people housed given that most residents may not even have a vehicle.
Given that the public isn’t sufficiently informed and based on the questions without answers above, this needs to be postponed, a continuance given, in order to bring the public up to speed. The developer should look to schedule a meeting with the public, possibly at the next Gardendale Neighborhood Association meeting on February 5th.
It was mentioned that the building or land was not owned at and would be finalizing that deal in August of 2024. If this is true, can zoning be done this early in advance? Our fear is a developer changing the zoning to be more attractive in order to sell the property as an asset to another developer in the future. We’re not sure that the project will actually come to fruition, but that the developer is only interested in acquiring the zoning and historic designation, to use to elevate the attractiveness of sale to a potential future investor. We don’t want this to be yet another publicly opposed project which gets dismissed by the District because of an ongoing working relationship that doesn’t include or need the public’s input or support.
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J. R.
Gardendale Neighborhood Association
OM<@gmail.com> Thu, Feb 1, 2024 at 6:41 AM
To: J R <@gmail.com>
Right to the point, yes sir thank you for what you do
Joseph Leos (DSD) <> Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 2:12 PM
To: J R <@gmail.com>
Cc: mr <@yahoo.com>, RG <@gmail.com>
Good afternoon,
Apologies for the delayed response and thank you for reaching out.
Please contact the representative as they may give you more information on the complexities of the request. If you don’t have his contact already, I can give it to you. I have also forwarded this email.
For tax information, please contact the Bexar County Appraisal District. For property information, contact (210) 242-2432 or (210) 224-8511. For a historic designation, please contact the Office of Historic Preservation.
A change of zoning may be conducted on any property if an authorization from the property owner is given. Also, I attached the site plan within this email and if approved, the applicant will be bound by this along with future developers.
For these concerns and about requesting a continuance, please feel free to leave a voicemail at the meeting tomorrow. Also, I will mark your response as “Opposed”.
Thank you,
Joseph Leos
Zoning Planner | Development Services Department
City of San Antonio
1901 S. Alamo St., San Antonio, TX 78204
210-207-3074 |
Please take a moment and tell us how we are doing by taking our survey:
http://www.sanantonio.gov/DSD/About/Survey.aspx
J R <@gmail.com> Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 2:41 PM
To: “Joseph Leos (DSD)” <>
Cc: m r <>, R G <>
“Please contact the representative as they may give you more information on the complexities of the request.”
Who exactly would that be. The form that came in the mail to Gardendale has your information on it.
“For tax information, please contact the Bexar County Appraisal District. For property information, contact (210) 242-2432 or (210) 224-8511. For a historic designation, please contact the Office of Historic Preservation.”
Shouldn’t this be something the developer asking for the zoning change give information on?
“A change of zoning may be conducted on any property if an authorization from the property owner is given. Also, I attached the site plan within this email and if approved, the applicant will be bound by this along with future developers.”
What happens if future developers do not follow this plan? Isn’t there a way for them to present a new plan which would ignore this?
“For these concerns and about requesting a continuance, please feel free to leave a voicemail at the meeting tomorrow. Also, I will mark your response as ‘Opposed’.”
On the feedback form for the zoning it states you can leave an email or voicemail. If I’ve already asked for a continuance and you’ve noted it, why would I also need to call in?
Thanks for your responses, I’m trying to understand this system as a regular citizen.
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J. R.
There was no further communication from Zoning, the developer, District 5. The zoning was approved 2/7/2024.