SAN ANTONIO – Design firm Able City has released four potential plans for the Alazan Apache Courts. They are now asking for community feedback through a survey. The survey will run through Sept. 9 and they hope to have a master plan by October.
Opportunity Home San Antonio, formerly known as the San Antonio Housing Authority, hired Able City to redevelop the courts. They made a promise, to keep the courts as public housing, as well as keeping residents within the West Side neighborhood during the construction and renovations.
Able City said they are tasked with making current units bigger, relocating units that now fall in FEMA’s floodplain map, preserving history, and meeting community demands.
The design firm presented four renderings this past week. The firm’s reps said this is a starting point for the final design.
“They are meant to start a conversation about what the priorities mean and how they need to be balanced out,” Mario Peña, a partner at Able City said.
Design 1:
Preserves the historic street view of the courts by focusing on adding space on buildings inside the courtyard away from the street. The buildings in orange would go up to three stories tall.
Design 2:
Preserves the core of the neighborhood, adding space on the outskirts near Alazan Creek. The buildings in orange would be three stories tall.
Design 3:
A mix of designs 1 & 2. It would add space in buildings away from the street in the courtyard as well as on the outskirts by Alazan Creek. All new construction would be two stories tall and it would require construction on more buildings overall.
“We said hey, what if we worked on the buildings in the courts and along the edges, but we would have to touch more buildings in order to get there? We’re presenting that idea of two stories,” Seema Kairam, an architect for Able City said.
Design 4:
Focuses on maximizing green space. The design includes three story buildings, as well as shifts buildings around. The goal being to free up room, so each courtyard gets its own playground.
Click here for a link to the survey.
