Photo: San Antonio Express-News File Photo

The historic Boehler/Liberty Bar building

The historic Boehler/Liberty Bar building

On Wednesday, HDRC will also consider GrayStreet Partners plan to renovate the downtown Light building into creative office space.

On Wednesday, HDRC will also consider GrayStreet Partners plan to renovate the downtown Light building into creative office space.

GrayStreet plans to replace one side of the Light building with a wall of glass and to add a small tower to one corner of its roof, to match the towers on the other corners.

GrayStreet plans to replace one side of the Light building with a wall of glass and to add a small tower to one corner of its roof, to match the towers on the other corners.

City staff recommends approving GrayStreets proposal as long as the firm doesnt add the new tower and it changes the material it would use for the exterior of the new structure.

City staff recommends approving GrayStreets proposal as long as the firm doesnt add the new tower and it changes the material it would use for the exterior of the new structure.

Pearl developer tries again to rehab former Liberty Bar

Pearl developer Silver Ventures is taking another swing at rehabilitating the former Liberty Bar, the now-boarded-up 19th-century building that sits with a fun-house lean at Josephine Street just off the exit ramp from U.S. 281.

The citys Historic and Design Review Commission on Wednesday will consider the firms request to move the building about 250 feet to Grayson Street and Avenue A. The building, constructed in 1890, is known for its slant caused by a flood in 1921 and neglect since then.

The HDRC denied a similar request in May 2014 out of concern that moving the building would diminish its historic value. But Silver Ventures spokeswoman Elizabeth Fauerso thinks the new proposal has a better chance because the firm wants to shift the building to another side of the same block, whereas it previously proposed moving it several blocks.

Silver Ventures wants the building to be closer to the heart of the Pearls culinary scene, Fauerso said. The building now sits next to the exit ramp for U.S. 281 and across the street from a pharmaceutical company.

We want the facade to relate to a corner that has a neighborhood life, as it once did, she said. This is a very special building with a special history that relates to the Pearl. We are taking pieces of our history and breathing new life into them.

The building, which was constructed by former Pearl Brewery brewmaster Fritz Boehler, was a beer garden for decades. It then served as the location of the Liberty Bar from 1985 to 2008, and local chef Andrew Weissman operated his restaurant Minnies Tavern & Rye House there until Silver Ventures bought the property in 2014.

Silver Ventures also wants to renovate a small house and move it next door to Boehlers building. The two buildings would be part of the same restaurant and would face a courtyard with tables, HDRC renderings show.

The firm doesnt have a particular restaurant in mind for the buildings, Fauerso said.

Were open to multiple concepts, she said. We want it to be an anchor in the neighborhood, as it once was.

The buildings current locations would become a parking lot, an idea that was met with public outcry when it was first floated by Silver Ventures in 2014. Fauerso said the project would replace an existing parking lot at Grayson and Avenue A. The firm plans to hire an artist to create a sculpture for a corner of the lot to mark the entrance of the Pearl from U.S. 281, she said.

City staff recommended that the HDRC grant preliminary approval to Silver Ventures plans. The firm would have to return with more detailed plans for final approval.

On Wednesday, the HDRC will also consider GrayStreet Partners plan to renovate the downtown Light building into creative office space. GrayStreet, one of the most active developers downtown, bought the Depression-era building in December from Hearst, the parent company of the San Antonio Express-News, and plans to turn it into 60,000 square feet of upscale office space with a rooftop restaurant.

GrayStreet wants to remove a skybridge connecting the Light building with a three-story annex built in the 1960s, according to documents from the HDRC. In its place, the firm has proposed to build a five-story structure connecting the two buildings.

It also wants to replace one side of the Light building with a wall of glass and to add a small tower to one corner of its roof, to match the towers on the other corners.

City staff recommended approving GrayStreets proposal as long as the firm doesnt add the new tower and it changes the material it would use for the exterior of the new structure. Kevin Covey, the firms managing partner, didnt respond to a request for comment.

Another downtown project is on Wednesdays HDRC agenda: Local development firm Crockett Urban Ventures is asking for final approval to rehabilitate the Witte building on the River Walk, at 135 E. Commerce St. The firm wants to turn the buildings River Walk level and ground floor into restaurant space and the top two floors into four apartments, the firms president, Patrick Shearer, said Monday.

Crockett Urban is applying for state and federal historic tax credits for the project, Shearer said. In response to feedback from state and federal officials, the firm changed the exterior of an elevator tower it wants to construct alongside the building. City staff didnt like the new exterior and sided against the project.

Were doing our best to have the design be acceptable to both the local historic staff as well as the state historic staff, Shearer said. I think well ultimately be able to achieve that.

The Witte project would contribute to the revitalization of that block of Commerce Street, which is now largely vacant. Crockett Urban is also building the Canopy by Hilton hotel a few doors down, and another local developer, Keller Henderson, plans to build the Floodgate luxury apartment building between the two projects.

rwebner@express-news.net

@rwebner

Here is the original post:

Pearl developer tries again to rehab former Liberty Bar - mySanAntonio.com