Help Plan the Future of Lavaca
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Open House: 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Discussion: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Where:
San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA)
818 South Flores
Meeting structure:
SAHA has established several "stations" in the meeting room, and each station will illustrate various options for particular parts of the Victoria Commons development. During the Open House, you'll have the opportunity to provide your feedback -- what do you like? What don't you like?
The Discussion part of the meeting will be more interactive, with active discussion among Lavaca attendees, SAHA, and Goody Clancy personnel.
If your time is limited, you can attend the Open House portion of the meeting only and "vote" on your preferences. However, if you have the time, SAHA recommends that you arrive toward the end of the Open House so you can review the stations and then join the active discussion.
Why this is important
A substantial chunk of the Lavaca neighborhood is the piece in the northeast corner -- several blocks in size -- that is being developed by SAHA and is known as "Victoria Commons." It currently includes the Refugio and HemisView apartments, the Artisan Park townhomes, Victoria Plaza, and the old SAHA administration building. It also includes quite a bit of open space that will be developed in the near future.
This area has an outsize impact on the neighborhood as a whole, partly because it is geographically large and dominated by a single design vision; partly because it will introduce a large area of mixed-use development into the neighborhood; and partly because the added housing will result in quite a few new residents in the neighborhood.
SAHA is giving the neighborhood a chance to have input to the area's development plans, and we encourage you to participate.
Click here to see our prior newsletter, which includes more detailed information about the Victoria Commons Master Plan, including a map of the included area.
Some ideas
There are already some ideas floating around the neigbhorhood regarding this development. Here are two we've heard discussed:
Use multiple developers or builders
A key part of the Master Plan will decide what is to be done with the open area behind the Artisan Park townhomes. Original plans called for additional townhomes. However, the first phase of townhome development was not as successful as hoped -- the townhomes sold slowly.
SAHA is now considering what to do with the space yet to be developed. Can the townhome concept work if the townhomes are redesigned? Should other housing formats be considered, such as multi-story condominiums or garden homes? There are some limitations on what is reasonable -- for example, there's already infrastructure in place for townhomes, and some alternatives would require replacing that infrastructure and recovering the costs of that replacement.
Still, at this point, everything is on the table.
The current vision would have a single developer and a single builder responsible for the entire property. Some neighbors have proposed instead that multiple developers be used. The goal is to achieve a more natural mix of residences rather than a single design -- something that would be more like the rest of Lavaca. Former Lavaca Neigbhborhood Association (LNA) president Joan Carabin points to the Cherry Street development, on the other side of the freeway, as an example of that kind of development. It features a wide variety of small homes with a very Lavaca-type feel, including a lot of front porches.
A variation of this approach would be to have a single developer responsible for infrastructure and general design guidelines, but to turn lots over to multiple builders, each builder designing and building unique homes. That could achieve the same variety in design but might be easier to manage.
Land swap
SAHA currently controls the property next to the HemisView apartment complex -- the east side of Labor at César Chávez, where the new Farmer's Market is located. Current plans call for that property to be mixed use, including residential and commercial.
Immediately across Labor Street from that property is a small park on City property.
Some neighbors have suggested that SAHA engineer a land swap with the City. Under this plan, the City would move the park to SAHA property adjacent to the old SAHA administration building at Labor and Refugio. In turn, SAHA would develop the current park land to mirror the mixed use development planned for the land adjacent to HemisView.
The benefits of this swap would be moving the park further into the neighborhood and away from the busy Labor / César Chávez corner; turning that first block of Labor into more of a gateway into the neighborhood and giving the mixed-use plans more scale. In addition, that usage of the park land might fit better into plans for Hemisfair Park redevelopment.
Please attend
The Victoria Commons Master Plan will have a big impact on the neighborhood. Please come to this meeting and get engaged in the planning process.
For more information, contact:
Brad McMurray, SAHA
Curtis Bowers, President, LNA |
