Demolition at vacant Friedrich complex may start this summer
Demolition of buildings at a long-vacant industrial site on the East Side could begin this summer.
Dallas-based Provident Realty Advisors plans to tear down most of the structures comprising the Friedrich complex at East Commerce, North Pine, North Olive and Gibbs streets. The large Friedrich Refrigerators sign overlooking Commerce Street will remain — it’s not part of the firm’s project.
Provident wants to build 358 apartments — 11 more than originally planned — along with fitness and club rooms, a sixstory parking garage and a pool, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Before construction can start, environmental-remediation and demolition plans need approval from government agencies. Provident is also applying for a loan from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for just under $60 million.
The firm hopes to get clearance to begin demolition in early- to mid-summer and start construction in the fall, said Dave Holland, executive director of multifamily and single-family rental properties at Provident.
Past plans to develop the Friedrich site stalled due to financing problems. Provident’s $68 million proposal has been in the works for several years but the company found a new equity partner in 2020.
The firm is partnering with the San Antonio Housing Trust Public Facility Corp., a nonprofit overseen by five City Council members, and the American South Real Estate Fund, which is providing $10.6 million in equity.
In deals with the housing trust, developers receive a full property tax exemption and also do not have to pay sales tax on construction purchases. In exchange, at least half of the units must be for residents earning up to 80 percent of the area
median income.
Under the previous plan for 347 apartments at the Friedrich site, 160 units were to be for residents at that income level and priced between $1,100 and $1,420 per month. Half were to be market-rate units with
rents between $1,100 and $1,800 per month. The remaining 14 apartments were for families making up to 60 percent of the median income and priced between $767 and $987 per month.
The housing trust provided those figures last fall.
The additional 11 units that are now part of the project, dubbed Friedrich Lofts, will be disbursed among those income levels, Holland said. The exact
allocation has not been determined yet.
Friedrich Lofts is also set to receive about $2.2 million worth of local incentives, including $1.7 million from the Inner City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, which reimburses developers for public improvements, paid for out of property tax revenue.