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The new Continental Residences near San Pedro Creek Culture Park are now open, where the past is built into what’s new.
Three years ago, many people might not have had much reason to traverse this stretch of Commerce Street. Now, it’s home to the new Continental Residences, where the past is built into what’s new.
Mark Jensen built the tower.
“We are sitting in the brand-new Continental Residences. It is on the edge of the recently revitalized San Pedro Creek,” Jensen said.
San Pedro Creek crosses under Commerce Street on the western edge of downtown. In downtown San Antonio, the Continental has taken shape, floor-by-floor over the last year.
“The other side of this, across Dolorosa, just three years ago, was the old county jail,” he said.
Before the Continental began to rise, that jail was torn down, floor by floor.
From the 16th floor of the brand-new building, Jensen said the structures at its base aren’t new.
“It had four historic structures on it up until very recently, and it still has three. So on the Dolorosa side is the Arana Building, a little two-story building that we have brought back to its original configuration.”
The attractive red-brick Arana Building was built in 1926.
“There were also two single-family houses on this block still remaining as of very recently,” Jensen said. “One, the O. Henry House, actually had been moved twice before, and its third, and what we hope is its final relocation and resting place.”
That O. Henry House was moved just a block away to the Casa Navarro State Historic Site. The De La Garza House remains on site, facing Laredo Street.
And that leaves the old Continental Hotel property that faces Commerce Street. Cory Edwards is the interim director of the city’s Office of Historic Preservation,
“The old Continental Hotel, at one point, ended up in the city’s hands,” Edwards said.
It later became, for decades, the Bexar County Health building. The location and the challenges the older structures created were substantial. Edwards said the brickwork was surprisingly complex.
“You will see at least four different iterations of masonry, he said. “The original masonry. Some sections where they built onto it, then what was definitely done in that '80s renovation, and then, most recently, us going back, finding materials as close as we could to that original masonry, and bringing back the archway.”
To give the building local flavor, the developers tapped San Antonio artist Analy Diego to curate a collection. Sunny Davila manages the Continental Residences.
“It’s that juxtaposition of old and new, where Weston Urban has very eloquently maintained the respect for these historic buildings,” she said.
Davila said the selection of 172 pieces of art is varied and inspiring to those who will call this home.
“I love that we’re using art in a way that the residents can really engage with, and our guests, and it really connects them,” she said. “I’m excited to see the future murals, because I think that they will tie in.”
She notes that this project is a unique blend of new and old.
“I like the juxtaposition of something very old and very new. I like all of the color. I tell my staff to wear color every day. Most days you come in and we’re all in bright, vibrant colors,” she said.
Mark Jensen says each project he tackles is a new and interesting challenge, but he says this experience may have changed his view on art.
“It’s inspired me, personally and us, to a large degree, to double down, triple down on our efforts to really make sure that we’re incorporating art inside these buildings,” Jensen said.
The Continental features residences, as its name suggests, but it will also include short-term lodging. Developers expect the ground-floor storefronts to become restaurants or other local businesses. It’s new chapter for a place that’s always held many before.
