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Texas

Harris Bay plans $19 million Riverwalk hotel

Adjacent to historic Travis Building, which the firm is converting into luxury apartments

Harris Bay’s Jake Harris and renderings of the hotel project on the San Antonio Riverwalk at 151 East Travis Street
Harris Bay’s Jake Harris and renderings of the hotel project on the San Antonio Riverwalk at 151 East Travis Street (Creo Arc, Harris Bay)

The Riverwalk is on a roll. 

New details have emerged about Harris Bay’s hotel project on the San Antonio River, at 151 East Travis Street. Construction for the project, called the Artista Hotel, is set to begin in July and run through the end of 2024, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. 

Renderings of the hotel project on the San Antonio Riverwalk at 151 East Travis Street
Renderings of the hotel project on the San Antonio Riverwalk at 151 East Travis Street (Creo Arc, Harris Bay)

The work has an estimated cost of $19 million, or about $157,000 per room, though filings with the department are often preliminary and subject to change. 

The 121-key hotel will span 71,000 square feet across eight stories. It will also include a river-level floor. Further details about the building are sparse, but the filings describe it as an “art-centric” boutique. The project is designed by San Antonio-based CREO Architecture. 

The San Ant reported in 2021 that 

The hotel will be managed by Accor, the San Antonio Express-News reported in 2021.

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Harris Bay purchased the parcel from Mark Wyant’s Seaside Hospitality in 2019, deed records show. Wyant, a Dallas hotelier, demolished a one-story building on the property and planned to build a 100-key hotel, but abandoned the project after construction costs began to rise in Texas related to Hurricane Harvey.

Renderings of the hotel project on the San Antonio Riverwalk at 151 East Travis Street
Renderings of the hotel project on the San Antonio Riverwalk at 151 East Travis Street (Creo Arc, Harris Bay)

While Harris Bay is based in California, it has several large-scale projects in San Antonio in the works. It is working on a renovation of the historic Travis Building, which sits next to the planned hotel, to create a 63-unit luxury apartment development.

The biggest project on the company’s docket is Essex Modern City, which is under development on an eight acre former industrial site. Plans include retail, office space, for-sale and rental residential units and a food market. 

For its 2022 growth fund, Harris Bay targeted 50- to 125-key hotels that would require cosmetic touch-ups but not major structural renovations. Marketing materials from the firm’s website say it was “especially interested in traditional drive-up 1950s-1970s hotels.”

Harris Bay did not return a call requesting comment. 

Adaptive reuse projects are popping up across San Antonio’s downtown. This summer, developer Weston Urban plans to break ground on a $150 million multifamily project at 110 South Laredo Street. The development will also include the site of the old Continental Hotel.

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