Currently, the Soap Factory Apartments would displace residents in three separate phases, with the first phase starting late 2025, according to an owner.
SAN ANTONIO — As talks continue to build the San Antonio Missions a new stadium downtown, plans could mean one of the most affordable downtown apartment complexes would be demolished.
The Soap Factory Apartments on Santa Rosa Street and Martin Street sit adjacent to the San Pedro Culture Creek Park. The apartment complex stretches three blocks. Rent for the cheapest apartment, a studio, can go for around $700 and a two bedroom could run you a little over $1000.
Rent for the apartments are at market rate, and are affordable to residents in comparison to other apartments downtown. The apartments are affordable, but do not have affordable housing income restrictions.
“[We pay] less than a thousand,” said Lydia Byrd, who lives at the complex. “It’s good, you know, because a lot of places that I looked over were over a thousand, even a one bedroom, which that’s what we have. “
Weston Urban, which co-owns the San Antonio Missions, also owns the Soap Factory Apartments. Proposed plans for the Missions stadium, include developing the land around the downtown arena. That would include demolishing the Soap Factory Apartments, displacing residents.
“The rate I have is fair,” said James Cooley, a resident at the complex. “I’m more than happy with what I’m paying. I’m five minutes from where I work. And I don’t know what I’m going to do. where I’m going to go after that. So, I’m going to live with what I got until it’s gone.”
Cooley said he was notified that when it would happen, residents would receive a 60-day notice to vacate.
Currently, the Soap Factory Apartments would displace residents in three separate phases.
“Having a displacement plan for residents is a requirement for any project receiving city assistance,” said Brian Chasnoff, Assistant Director of Communications.
Residents, according to the city and the owners, would have the opportunity to move to another unit at the Soap Factory Apartments that would be demolished at a later date. Chasnoff explained that if a tenant is relocated to another unit at the Soap Factory Apartments , the developer has committed to paying for this moving expenses. Co-owner of Weston Urban Randy Smith, told San Antonio City Council on Thursday that the first round of displacements would begin late 2025.
Another option for residents would be to move at the Continental Block , on West Commerce Street and Dolorosa, a half-mile away from the Soap Factory Apartments. The Continental Block was purchased by Weston Urban in 2020, and is set to be 290 units of mixed-income housing. It’s currently under construction according to its website.
Only 145 units of The Continental Block will be reserved for those who are displaced from the Soap Factory Apartments. Only those who fall between 60 percent and 80 percent of the average median income (AMI) would qualify for one of the reserved apartments. The 60 percent AMI for a three person household is around $47,820 annually, and 80 percent AMI for a three person household is $63,200 annually, according to the City of San Antonio’s department for Neighborhood and Housing Services.
“Since we have owned Soap Factory, the renewal rate has been around 40%, meaning that 60% of folks just don’t renew,” Smith said. “And so in my commitment to the relocation plan, the commitment to offer folks another unit on property, is rooted in that math. So I know that if past is prolog, if our renewal rates stay what they have been historically, that I’ll be able to hold off units as folks don’t renew. If the math is wrong, we will not own enough units, and that’s where the housing navigation services will come in.”
The company has partnered with the nonprofit ‘Building Brighter Communities,’ that will providing housing navigation for residents who are displaced to assist with relocation.
“[It] was recommended to us by city staff,” Smith said. “We’ve been meeting with them for a couple of months now, and the goal there is to uncover the best practices and the things that really work in these instances for the challenges that some residents may face.”
Smith told city council that residents were notified by email, and received notices about the eventual plan.
Many councilmembers at the special session, Thursday were critical of developers’ displacement plan.
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez of district 2, asked developers to guarantee fair chance housing for those that want to live at their complex, by removing the barriers for those who were once incarcerated.
Developers also committed to an in-person and virtual gathering before September 18 to inform residents about the eventual displacement, based on McKee-Rodriguez’ insistence.
“Those occupants, those residents in the Soap factory units, if we are doing our jobs in terms of an anti displacement strategy, we need to make sure that they’re placed in a comparable unit,” Mayor Ron Nirenberg said Thursday. This project does not happen until those conditions are met. We want a very detailed anti displacement, making sure that we have every single one of those families is accounted for.”
Currently, owners of the Missions are still in negotiations with SAISD for the final parcel of land to build the downtown stadium.
On Sept. 5, city council was set to decide on the stadium’s agreement, but many city council members requested that meeting be pushed back. As of Friday, the item was not listed on next week’s agenda.
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