GrayStreet moves Lone Star Brewery plan ahead

The highly anticipated redevelopment of San Antonio’s old Lone Star Brewery is moving forward.

GrayStreet Acquisitions and partnering developer Midway have begun preliminary work at 200 West Jones Avenue, a 32-acre site just south of downtown, in preparation for a $600 million redevelopment of one of Texas’ oldest breweries, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. 

The news comes nearly three years after GrayStreet acquired the land. The developer has since hit several roadblocks and even attempted to sell the property last year, “exploring what was out there.”

Although there are still several hurdles to clear, like getting clearance on the environmental side, the firm has made significant strides. GrayStreet recently gained approval from San Antonio’s Historic and Design Review Commission, and construction could begin by the end of the year. 

“Now they’re focused on environmental remediation, some of the demolition of buildings that need to be removed for the project,” Ian Benavidez, of the city’s Neighborhood & Housing Services Department, told the outlet.

In 2021, the city granted $24 million in public incentives to help fund the project. When news came that GrayStreet was shopping the property, officials asserted that the $24 million incentive package wouldn’t apply if a new developer took over. 

GrayStreet managing partner Kevin Covey warned that the project would require considerable time and effort shortly after it acquired the land in 2020.

“There are a lot of challenges to that site,” Covey told the outlet. “But there is nothing here that is insurmountable if we all collectively put our heads together.”

The Lone Star Brewery was constructed between 1895 and 1904 by Edmund Jungenfeld, who designed all of Anheuser-Busch’s facilities in St. Louis, along with other local architects. The property was acquired by the San Antonio Museum Association in the early 1970s and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.

—Quinn Donoghue