SAN ANTONIO – Two San Antonio brothers have turned their vision into a $2.7 million project that includes the collaboration of the neighborhood, city and state.
Michael and Joe Guerrero came up with a plan about five years ago to turn an empty lot on the corner of Brooklyn Avenue near I-37 into a food truck park, but they wanted it to become something more than that.
“We wanted something to be sustainable for the neighborhood,” Michael Guerrero said about Brooklyn StrEAT Food Park. “This is not a development where we decided, 'Hey, we're going to put this food truck park up, and we're going to do it whether you like it or not,'” he said.
The developers sought the feedback from the neighborhood association, worked with the city to get full access to Burnet Street to turn into a garden, and worked with the Texas Department of Transportation to turn two acres of their property into parking for their business. It was a collaboration that also included students at the Healy-Murphy Center.
The project started out as a $500,000 project, and four years later, it’s nearly a $2.7 million project.
The three-story open air structure will have space for exercise, live entertainment, a juice bar, commissary and cold storage. It will have space for about six to nine food trucks and will be open seven days a week, from lunch to dinner, with extra hours on the weekend.
There will be lighting and wider pedestrian access improvements.
All plans have been approved and groundbreaking is expected next month, with the goal of being open by Fiesta.
On Thursday, the city is expected to vote on an additional $350,000 in tax increment reinvestment zone development funds.
