$300 million redevelopment planned for San Antonio's Lone Star brewery

Renderings released in August 2016 provide the first look at what the neglected former San Antonio Lone Star Brewery site in Southtown will look like after a $300+ million redevelopment project. Renderings released in August 2016 provide the first look at what the neglected former San Antonio Lone Star Brewery site in Southtown will look like after a $300+ million redevelopment project. Photo: Aqualand Development/CBL & Associates Properties Photo: Aqualand Development/CBL & Associates Properties Image 1 of / 120 Caption Close $300 million redevelopment planned for San Antonio's Lone Star brewery 1 / 120 Back to Gallery

The redevelopment of the Lone Star Brewery into a mixed-use project along the lines of the Pearl is expected to break ground in summer of next year with a grand opening planned for late 2018.

A partnership between Aqualand Development of San Marcos and CBL & Associates Properties of Chattanooga, Tenn. is leading the project, which will likely end up costing more than $300 million. It will be built in phases, with the first phase spanning the northern half of the site.

The project will have more of an entertainment focus than the Pearl, with more outdoor space and a cultural connection to the Southtown community, said two members of its development team, Adam Schneider, Aqualand's president, and David Neuhoff, vice president of development for CBL.

"We see ourselves as kind of anchoring Southtown," Schneider said.

It will likely include a food hall, a movie theater and a bowling alley with a restaurant and bar. The retail will be a mix of local, regional and national brands, the developers said – another differentiation from the Pearl, which focuses on local businesses. The pond will serve as the centerpiece of a park connected to the River Walk that could be used as festival space, and renderings show a café along the water.

The partners plan to bring in other developers to build multi-family housing and a hotel. Neuhoff said the hotel will likely be a boutique brand with around 135 to 140 rooms.

The project will include large amounts of creative office space with open floor plans, Schneider and Neuhoff said. The developers have been in talks with Lone Star Brewing Company, which now brews its products in Fort Worth, to have a presence at the site, which has been vacant since around 1996.

The old brewery site will retain much of its gritty appearance – docks will be turned into seating areas for restaurants, and old metal will be repurposed as canopies. Old silos will be preserved, possibly as space for art displays.

RWebner@express-news.net