San Antonio Grand Hyatt

Mixed-Use High-Rise Comes to Alamo City

by Tonie Auer

A rendering shows the San Antonio Grand Hyatt, located along the River Walk, with its detail reflecting local architecture and culture. (Image courtesy of FaulknerUSA.)

The San Antonio Grand Hyatt's location along the San Antonio River Walk and adjacent to the city's convention center makes it ideal for business travelers and tourists.

But, the location also means construction challenges because it's so close to pedestrian and auto traffic, said Josh Leen, project manager for Austin-based design-build contractor FaulknerUSA.

When completed in early 2008, the building will be 33 stories and 415 ft. tall, with 24 floors housing about 1,000 hotel rooms that will be managed by Hyatt Hotels Corp. The nine floors on top will contain the Riverwalk Residences condos.

The $227.5 million project brings luxury condos to downtown San Antonio for the first time, said Carl Kernodle, vice president and director of design for FaulknerUSA.

"This kind of product doesn't exist in San Antonio now," he said. "Our high-rise luxury condos will start on level 25, 200 ft. in the air. So, we have the ability to provide our owners with beautiful views of the city and terrain that you can't get from any other residences.

"The condos will also have their own lobby with its own presence off the street."

There will be 147 residences ranging from 749 to 4,680 sq. ft. as well as rooftop amenities including a swimming pool, party room and fitness center. There will be six penthouse units with stairways to a private rooftop cabana and deck.

All residents will have private parking as well as access to the hotel services.

Leen said construction requires meetings on a regular basis with a liaison from the convention center, Alamodome, police and the city.

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"There are unique challenges to the construction because it is such a tight site," Kernodle said. "It is close to the river as well as a theater. We have a lot of utilities to deal with and many challenges by the footprint."

Two lanes of traffic are blocked off on Market Street for the project, and Bowie Street, which ran through the property, had to be relocated, Leen said.

Additionally, the site is adjacent to a convention center, there are two live loading docks in the construction boundary and the Alamodome is across IH-37.

Construction began in January with two 12-hour shifts working on the slurry-wall excavation process. The slurry-wall foundation is 65 ft. down with five levels of below-grade parking as part of the project, Leen said.

He added that the tower will be cast-in-place concrete with a precast skin. Leen said new utilities had to be added and other lines had to be relocated.

Early in the project, workers were hitting steam lines almost on a daily >>

basis from the water-steam plant across the street, Leen said.

"They have recycle lines not shown on drawings that intersect our property boundary," he said. "If the lines are dead, we remove them. If they're live, we have to do modifications to avoid the existing obstructions."

A cast-in-place parking garage on the site that served the area had to be demolished before construction could begin. The existing parking garage was on piers 50- ft. deep each with a 5-ft. diameter.

"We had to modify the design to avoid the piers," Leen said. "They'll be removed as we excavate. Using the design-build process we've been able to keep pace. The foundations have been designed and approved by the city and it is currently reviewing the parking garage."

The overall design of the building reflects San Antonio, Kernodle said. The exterior materials feature native Texas limestone on the ground levels close to the River Walk and street level.

Facing Market Street, the lobby will be open with all glass, allowing visitors to see directly into the lobby.

The lounge/bar area will open up to the street.

"The restaurant will open up to the River Walk with outdoor dining, and the interiors of the hotel will be warm and inviting and more similar to a resort," Kernodle added.

In addition to the 1,000 guest rooms, the hotel will have more than 76,000 sq. ft. of ballroom and meeting space.