Lone Star site in contract

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After years of sitting vacant, the Lone Star Brewery could have a new owner by the end of this year.

Austin-based AquaLand Development LLC is currently under contract to purchase the nearly 22-acre property that is located on the southern edge of the San Antonio River, said John Readyhough, vice president for the development firm.

The preliminary plans for the property are for a $60 million mixed-use development incorporating about 700 residential units that could be a mix of apartments, condominiums and townhomes, about 30,000 square feet of commercial space, a hotel and beer gardens, Readyhough said.

The company also plans to reintroduce the pool there that is fed by an artesian well and has talked about building a microbrewery that would produce Lone Star, he added.

“Our intent is to keep the eclectic feel of the brewery and incorporate multifamily (housing) around it,” he said.

The property is assessed at about $3.9 million, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.

The news was first reported in the online publication Plaza de Armas.

Retailers already have reached out to the development firm, expressing their interest in the site, he said.

Readyhough expects that the deal with Newell Commercial Properties, the entity that owns the site, should close by late summer or early fall. With that timeline, the project could get under way by late 2012 and take roughly two years to complete, he added.

If the deal goes through, the Lone Star redevelopment would be the firm's first project in San Antonio. Readyhough said that the firm looked to move into the Alamo City because of the need for multifamily units in the downtown core.

“The brewery is iconic,” Readyhough said. “There's a high level of interest among that generation (baby boomers) as well as the Generation X to live in the downtown core area.”

The company is seeking incentives from the city and county and could seek a Housing and Urban Development grant, Readyhough said.

If the deal is inked, it would become the second major redevelopment along that section of Mission Reach. The Blue Star Phase II project is a $42 million mixed-use development planned for the former Big Tex site. It has plans for 320 residential units and about 6,000 square feet of retail space. Along with the Lone Star project, that would create about 1,000 residential units along the Mission Reach within the next few years.

“(Lone Star) in addition to the Blue Star project is a complete game changer for that neighborhood,” said Debra Maltz, a broker and real estate agent with Centro Properties. “It's going to do so much for the southern part of the river and the southern part of town. Everybody has been hoping the Lone Star would be developed. It's such a great opportunity.”