2025 | Newly Completed Historic Preservation

“Constructed as an elite apartment hotel in 1930, The Aurora is a rare and special example of a luxury high-rise of its era,” notes principal Beverly Baldwin, AIA, project architect. Our team met the challenge of bringing the aging 11-story tower up to current livability, accessibility, and life-safety standards while preserving the property’s historic character.

In July 2021, the c.1954 El Paso Natural Gas Building, also known as the Blue Flame Building, re-opened to much local fanfare. Alamo Architects, with associate El Paso firm InSitu, led the high-rise retrofit of the prominent 18-story office building for mixed-use redevelopment. The retrofit has given the iconic Blue Flame a second life – and a key role in providing much-needed affordable housing units to the community.

Reimagining the next chapter for the c. 1929 Tower Life Building is a singular opportunity to leverage our decades of experience in the adaptive reuse of legacy buildings in downtown San Antonio. We are delighted at the prospect of bringing this landmark building into fresh focus: reintroducing the Tower Life as a premier downtown address and residential community.