When Alamo Architects renovated an industrial building as our headquarters in the South Flores neighborhood, we built a beacon of redevelopment. Over the next ten years, the “lights would go on” in nearby blocks, through adaptive reuse of industrial buildings, and then new construction. The Trove Southtown was the first major new apartment development on its block, part of a wave of local renewal.
From the beginning, The Trove Southtown stood apart in one key aspect: the attractive opportunity to create a new urban walking street where currently none existed. We brought to the project our respect for the venerable Northeast Corridor row home, by adding neighborly front stoops and first floor windows, contributing to a sense of community. Trees, now maturing to give shade, complete a streetscape – completely transforming this formerly inhospitable industrial block.
The team looked at every aspect of functionality to help this project adapt well to a challenging site. For example, to mitigate sound from the adjacent railroad right of way, we installed a massive berm that also brings landscaped views to skyline-facing units. Underground parking minimizes site constraints and allows the building to respond appropriately to the redeveloping urban context.
Unique to The Trove, stoop-served live/work units establish an authentic urban residential experience reminiscent of Brooklyn brownstones. Management functions and amenities open to the street with glazed storefronts, bookends of the building. The building facade offers a rich materiality – corbelled brick masonry, stucco, and corrugated metal skin reinforce a material connection with neighboring utilitarian structures while embracing a distinctly contemporary aesthetic.
Since completion in 2011, The Trove Southtown has been joined in the neighborhood by several other apartment projects, including one of our own, The Lofts at Big Tex. Development in this formerly neglected downtown-adjacent area has boomed, including construction of townhomes and new single-family houses. The success of this ongoing neighborhood revitalization is supported by its new housing options, central location, and connection to popular downtown hangouts – such as a longtime favorite of the area, La Tuna Ice House, and Blue Star Arts Complex. The trailhead for the River Walk Mission Reach is steps away, completing the Southtown experience.
The NRP Group / San Antonio Housing Trust
San Antonio, Texas
227,076 SF / 252 units
Phase I Completed 2011
Structural | Sterling Engineers
MEP | Raymond Engineering
Civil | Bury and Partners
Landscape | Land Design Partners
1512 South Flores St.
San Antonio, TX 78204
210.227.2612