Innjoy Hospitality’s Nix Tower Conversion Advances

A long-vacant downtown San Antonio hospital tower is inching closer to an apartment makeover, as a key approval gives its developer fresh momentum — and potential tax savings — after years of starts and stops.

The 23-story Nix building at 414 Navarro Street won a historic tax certification last week from the San Antonio Historic and Design Review Commission, clearing an early hurdle for Houston-based Innjoy Hospitality’s plan to convert the nearly century-old structure into 329 apartments with ground-floor retail. The HDRC approved the measure unanimously through its consent agenda, according to city records and first reported by the San Antonio Business Journal.

The certification positions Innjoy to pursue state and federal historic tax credits through the Texas Historical Commission and the National Park Service. HDRC had already given conceptual approval to the project in August, though the development will need a certificate of appropriateness before construction can begin if any changes are proposed to the 94-year-old building.

The project also comes with local tax relief. With sign-off from the Bexar County tax assessor-collector, the redeveloped property would avoid ad valorem taxes for five years after renovations are completed. Beginning in year six, the building would be reappraised and taxed at 50 percent of its market value on a rolling five-year basis under the city’s Unified Development Code.

Details tied to the historic tax credit application shed new light on the scope and timing. Innjoy plans to carve the ground floor into four retail spaces, while upper floors would be reconfigured into a mix of studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom units. The development team expects to break ground in January and wrap construction in 2028. XA Collective Architecture + Planning, HM3 Engineering and A-1 Engineering are part of the design and engineering team.

Innjoy bought the 300,000-plus-square-foot tower in 2020, a year after Nix Health shuttered operations in the building. The property sits near the River Walk and has remained mostly empty since the hospital’s closure, making it one of the most visible symbols of downtown’s post-pandemic vacancy problem. Landry’s continues to operate restaurant space at the river level.

The developer initially floated a hotel conversion, but pivoted to multifamily as market conditions shifted. A state filing in late 2023 projected a construction start in early 2025, a timeline that slipped as financing and approvals lagged.

— Eric Weilbacher