Developers lay out Lindsey Hill plans

Passions flared on several occasions during a neighborhood presentation meeting on the proposed Lindsey Hill development’s preferred scenario map amendment request. 

The developers, David Lerman and Mark Berins of Guadalupe RE, presented their plan for the old Lamar campus to members of the public at the Price Center on Monday. Guadalupe RE is requesting a preferred scenario map amendment for the property, located at 500 W. Hutchison Street, from Area of Stability-Redevelopment Infill to High Intensity-Redevelopment Infill. The development has encountered support from residents who feel the property should be redeveloped into something new. However, some residents oppose the development, citing the property’s historical significance. It was the site of the Coronal Institute, a coeducational facility, and later it was the location of San Marcos High School, one of the first high schools in the state to desegregate after the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. Other residents are concerned about gentrification, traffic and the quality of life in the surrounding neighborhoods. 

At the meeting Monday night, Lerman and Berins outlined their plans for the site and briefly discussed how they came to purchase the property and decide what to do with it.

Lerman said he and Berins had talked with neighborhood activists and other residents about what to do with the property, keeping the city’s comprehensive plan in mind. The initial vision for the property included apartments, a boutique hotel, retail and public space. When opposition arose, he said, “It caught us by surprise.”

Lerman said he and Berins held more meetings with residents, and although they did not always hear the same things at each meeting, opposition to the hotel was a consistent theme. He said residents also spoke about possibly moving into the property and wanting home ownership to remain an option. In response, Lerman said, the hotel was eliminated and 30 condominium apartments were put in the plans in its place. There is also less retail space — 8,700 square feet — than originally planned, and more room is devoted to having a public gathering space. The development is expected to have a maximum of 184 apartments that would be a mixture of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, along with a parking garage. 

Berins said there will be 50 parking spaces for the 30 condominium apartments and 0.85 spaces per bedroom for the other apartments, plus parking for the retail establishments. 

Berins said those parking figures were developed using the parking requirements for Sanctuary Lofts and that they are based on the assumption that many residents will not own cars.

“With all due respect, that’s complete baloney,” one audience member said. “No one’s going to get rid of their car.”

Berins responded that he appreciated the input but that the figures were based on data regarding changing attitudes toward car ownership, plus the availability of public transit and Car2Go.

“If you have examples that show specific data,” he said, “let’s talk about it.”

Historical concerns

Audience members also voiced concerns about honoring the historical significance of the site. The developers said they intend to have a marker with a QR code on it in front of the site to allow people to scan it with their phones and learn about the historical importance of the schools that once stood there. And, Berins said, for people who need a tangible link to the past, the auditorium and gymnasium buildings are remaining on the site. The classroom building, however, will be demolished.

“There’s really not much value in that building,” Berins said. “... You cannot take every building and put a glass case around it.”

Members of the audience disagreed among themselves about the historic value of the site and whether the current buildings have any significance. 

“Given the history of white supremacy and the KKK, we do not need to destroy our segregated high school. That history needs to stay here,” one audience member said. Another pointed out that the city’s historical asset surveys — which would include the former high school campus — have not been completed yet. Other audience members argued that there was no reason to keep the current buildings there. 

“The front school building sitting on Hutchison (the classroom wing) is not the Alamo,” Lerman said, adding that the decision to desegregate was more important than the site of the school, and the history of the site will be honored. 

‘Another East German building’

Audience members also verbally sparred about how to handle growth and voiced concerns about students moving into the Lindsey Hill apartments. However, Berins said that Guadalupe RE’s contract with the city includes restrictions on who can rent there. The contract stipulates that there will be no rent-by-the-bedroom apartments and no subleasing, that everyone who lives in an apartment must be named on the lease, and that renters must have either a five-year credit history or a three-year credit history and a full-time job, he said.  

Berins said there are plenty of housing opportunities for students, but, “Why would y’all want to not give opportunities to current residents to live in the center of town where they can enjoy the lifestyle benefits?”

Concerns about drainage and impervious cover were also mentioned — Berins said the project will not add much impervious cover compared to the amount already there — as were concerns about the buildings’ ultimate design.

“I would just hate to have another East German building put up,” one resident said, referring to The Local apartment building downtown. 

Council member Melissa Derrick, who was in the audience at the neighborhood meeting, assured residents that it would not be another Local. 

A member of the audience asked Lerman and Berins about plans after the development is built.

“We’re not merchant builders,” Berins said. “... The goal isn’t to flip it.”

Even if Guadalupe RE did sell the development at some point in the future, he said, the conditions of the contract with the city stay with the project. A new owner would not be able to decide to open it up to student housing or rent-by-the-room practices without going through an approval process with the city government.

“None of this stuff evaporates,” Berins said. 

To track the Lindsey Hill preferred scenario amendment application, create an account at www.mygovernmentonline.org and search for case number PSA-18-04.