Villita Building plans include changes to roof and space along river
The city’s design panel approved on Wednesday ambitious plans for remaking the 66-year-old La Villita Assembly Hall building.
Those plans include removing a portion of the roof at the covered entry and lowering the pedestrian plaza from street level to River Walk level.
Ford Powell Carson, the firm founded by the noted architect and designer of the rotunda, O’Neil Ford, presented its concepts to the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC) on behalf of the unique structure’s newest owners.
MLSA Ventures acquired the 24,785-square-foot circular building with an inverted dome in March, managing principal Bobby Magee saying at the time the group was working through a variety of ideas and plans.
The future of the building at 401 Villita St., in operation as an event space since the 1960s and home to Night In Old San Antonio, has been in limbo for several years.
In 2018, then-owner CPS Energy put its surplus downtown real estate on the market and, two years later, trustees gave CPS Energy the go-ahead to proceed with negotiations for the sale of the Villita Assembly Hall. The asking price was $5.3 million. But that transaction didn’t occur.
In spring 2022, CPS Energy relisted building for sale and received multiple offers, according to the utility.
A year later, commercial real estate firm CBRE announced the sale of the rotunda to local private equity firm GrayStreet Partners, which also owns the Lone Star Brewery property near Probandt and the former San Antonio Light newspaper building on Broadway.
Less than six months after buying the La Villita building with plans to upgrade it as a gathering venue, GrayStreet put the building back on the market. MLSA Ventures closed on the deal only five months ago.
The firm’s plans are now coming into view with design concepts revealed and approved at the recent hearing.
In addition to removing a portion of the entryway roof for a new storefront, plans call for giving the building more visibility, accessibility and pedestrian circulation from the River Walk and Arneson River Theater.
Renderings show some trees and a switchback ramp would be removed and replaced with an elevator. An outdoor dining space will be created on the southeast corner and a new restroom building is to be built.
Clerestory windows will be installed near the roof line around the entirety of the structure and new LED lights are planned for the exterior. The existing flower pattern on the roof, though not original to the building, will remain, according to the plan documents.
“I think it’s time that the La Villita Assembly Hall actually connects decently to the San Antonio River and it will be a large improvement to that part of La Villita,” said Commissioner Jeffrey Fetzer. But he questioned removing a portion of the roof and the trees which could provide needed shade.
Adam Reed, principal at Ford Powell Carson, explained roof removal is necessary to remove the slab in order to make the plaza level to the river and also to bring more light into the space. The removal of a few trees is needed to make way for construction and some new trees will be planted.
The Conservation Society of San Antonio has been working with MLSA Ventures as the nonprofit prepares for its annual Fiesta event, said Kate Ruckman, first vice president and assistant to the president of the Conservation Society. “We hope to continue to work closely with the building ownership as the planning goes forward,” she said.
With conceptual approval from HDRC, the project can move toward final design plans. Learn more about how HDRC reviews historic design plans by clicking here.
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