The bulk of the money will go towards repairs for the iconic downtown structure, a project that will be overseen by the Chart House restaurant operator.
SAN ANTONIO — Downtown’s Tower of the Americas is set to receive $19.4 million in renovations and repairs after San Antonio City Council approved a new lease agreement with Landry’s Restaurants Inc., which operates the Chart House restaurant and will oversee the upgrades.
Some of the most significant fixes will address cracked and flaking areas of concrete on the 750-foot-tall landmark’s tower shaft. Those repairs are set to start April 8, following the culmination of the 2025 NCAA Final Four – which San Antonio is hosting – and are expected to last until Dec. 3, 2025. The plan is for all renovations and fixes, from safety improvements to new light fixtures, to be done by Dec. 5.
The city is providing $15.4 million to fund the infrastructural, mechanical and electric components, using money from its 2022 bond and previous budgetary allocations. Landry’s is chipping in the remaining $4 million for what city officials called “customer-facing” upgrades to the ground-level store, observation level and other areas.
The approval of the plan came as City Council voted to extend its existing lease agreement with Landry’s by five years, along with an additional five-year option. The green light came as part of the Thursday meeting’s consent agenda items vote.
“This was basically assigning that project to Landry’s, for them to manage the construction for us,” said John Jacks, director of center city development and operations for San Antonio.
It isn’t the first time Landry’s has overseen major renovations to the 56-year-old tower, a key tourist attraction and element of the San Antonio skyline that was built for the 1968 World’s Fair. Upon approval of an initial 15-year lease agreement with the dining and hospitality group in 2004, Landry’s set out on a year and a half of repairs before the tower reopened in June 2006.
While the lease expired during the COVID-19 pandemic, the city and Landry’s agreed to “remain in holdover” amid ongoing extension talks. The new lease officially begins either when the city completes its anticipated repairs or January 2025—whichever dates arrives first.
“It’s really just an aging building that needs these repairs to sustain it and keep going forward with it,” Jacks said, adding that improvement planning started in 2019.
The first signs of renovations could come as soon as February, with protection panels being placed on the lower level of the tower. Landry’s expects to remain fully operational during the construction project, but they do anticipate a two month shutdown beginning in mid-April.