San Antonio’s New Brew

Historic Pearl Brewery Transforming Into Multiuse Urban Site

The site of the former Pearl Brewery in San Antonio is undergoing a renovation that will create an environmentally conscious urban oasis. The project is aiming for a gold LEED certification.

By Jennifer Hiller

The Pearl Brewhouse in San Antonio is getting ready to serve up the city a new kind of brew. (Photo by Sandy Powers.)

A painstaking restoration of San Antonio’s landmark Pearl Brewery is transforming an 1883 neo-gothic brewery into an environmentally sensitive urban village.

The $100 million project along the San Antonio River has been under way for more than three years and includes the renovation of multiple buildings on the 22-acre property. Two general contractors are being used on various buildings.

The Pearl Brewery, which was Texas’ longest continually operating brewery until it shut down in 2001, was acquired by San Antonio development firm Silver Ventures Inc. in 2002.

San Antonio-based Metropolitan Contracting Co. Ltd. has worked on the first several phases of construction, including the site’s infrastructure work, and some of the first buildings to undergo renovation. The brewery’s old garage was transformed into the Aveda Institute, a facility for skin and hair care completed in 2005.

The Pearl Stable, a horse stable that had been converted to a special events venue in the 1950s, was restored as a high-tech conference and special events center, which opened in May 2006.

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San Antonio-based Artistic Builders has been working on the brewery’s Full Goods Building, which is seeking gold LEED certification, and the Can Recycling Building, which is nearing completion and includes retail and residential loft space, along with the Pearl Brewery’s signature neon beer can sign on top.

A dance studio moved into the first-floor space in the Can Recycling Building in the fall, while the loft spaces were completed and available to rent by December.

Darryl Byrd, developer with Silver Ventures, says the 67,000-sq-ft Full Goods Building, a former warehouse which once stored finished beer, should be complete by mid-2008 and will include mixed-use office, retail, apartments and restaurants.

Let the sun in It will also include the state’s biggest solar array on its roof, through a $1.35 million partnership with San Antonio’s municipal utility, City Public Service.

The plan is to install an array of 200-kw solar panels. CPS Energy is investing $400,000 and Silver Ventures is investing $950,000 in the project. Byrd says the installation will give Silver Ventures a chance to generate a portion of its own energy-about one-fourth of the energy needed onsite-and allow CPS Energy to test solar energy at a large, commercial setting.

There’s also a public education component. Visitors will be able to see how solar energy works, Byrd adds.

Another energy-efficient aspect of the Full Goods Building is the rainwater collection system, which feeds into vats that once held beer and will be used to water the drought-tolerant landscaping onsite.

The Full Goods Building will become one of the first LEED-certified buildings in San Antonio. “We don’t know what level it will be until we’re finished,” Byrd says. “We’re chasing gold.”

The Pearl Stable, a horse stable that had been converted to a special events venue in the 1950s, was restored as a high-tech conference center and special events center.(Photo by Sandy Powers.)

Making space for makeovers In the first building completed on the site, Metropolitan Contracting turned the brewery’s garage into the Aveda Institute.

A 65-year-old concrete slab was leveled with a 5-in. topping slab, and the existing steel windows were restored and given insulated glass. On the roof, about 190 of the original, deteriorated wood rafters were replaced, as was 18,000 sq-ft of decking. A modified bitumen roof assembly with cap sheet was installed.

Inside, architects Ford, Powell & Carson of San Antonio left the HVAC metal ducting and perimeter brick walls exposed to create an open feeling and used maple wall finishes, stainless steel and glass mosaic tile work to contrast with the industrial feel.

Outdoors, the area that used to house fuel pumps for the brewery’s truck fleet became a courtyard, with one restored antique fuel pump as artwork.

Reining in a roof At the Pearl Stable, the site’s signature building, a high-tech conference center and special events venue was created in a stable that used >> to house the brewery’s delivery horses and later was changed into a special events venue. No updates, however, had been made to the building in decades.

The two-story, 12,500-sqft building’s oval shape and domed roof presented some special challenges, says Tim Swan, chief executive officer of the general partner at Metropolitan Contracting. “The framing inside isn’t ordinary,” Swan adds. “It’s got this incredible, complex symmetry.”

Because intricate interior woodwork and trusses were discovered behind a 1950s dropped ceiling, the architect and contractors had to figure out a way to install new MEP and HVAC systems while leaving the original wood exposed.

“Tremendous attention by all parties was paid to the roof,” Swan says. “That roof is in your face from the freeway, so the owner wanted a clean, uncluttered look. A lot of consideration went into the mechanical systems placement. We were working with a roof that you couldn’t put anything on top of or below.”

To leave the original interior woodwork and trusses exposed while keeping the mechanical systems hidden from passing traffic on nearby IH-35, a second roof deck was built above the existing deck. The second roof created an envelope for hiding electrical and HVAC. New MEP systems were installed, including fire protection sprinklers, hydronic HVAC, theatrical lighting and audio-visual systems.

The building now includes a prefunction area with two custom bars, a main assembly space, mezzanine, professional stage, commercial kitchen, support areas and elevator. Custom chandeliers include hundreds of antique beer bottles, while hand-fabricated iron work and handmade Mexican tile replicated tile common in 1894. Windows that had been filled in during the 1950s were reopened, and missing window units were manufactured in Mexico to match.

On the building’s exterior, the upper portion of the entry pediment, which originally had text that read “1894” and “Stable,” had been removed. It was reconstructed based on the original linen architectural drawings. The rooftop cupola was reconstructed and hoisted into position.

Bollards used throughout the site were originally the supports for the beer vats. Landscaping included moving a 100-year-old, 156,000-lb oak tree using slings and a crane. The job was done by subcontractor Design Tree Farm of San Antonio.

“It doesn’t always work, but luckily this one happens to like its new home,” Swan says.
Rainwater capture is used for landscape watering.

Restoring materials Among the more painstaking aspects of the renovation has been protecting the brick walls that characterize the site. In the 1950s crème paint was applied to several buildings, including the Pearl Stable, eventually causing moisture to be trapped, says Jeffrey Fetzer, senior associate with Ford Powell & Carson. “There was testing done to see which chemicals were needed to dissolve the paint,” Fetzer adds. “The strippers we used were bioderadable.”

Because no lead paint was found, chemicals and low-pressure hot water have been able to remove the paint.

Another issue with the paint: because it’s is more than 50 years old, removing it meant that the project couldn’t qualify for historic preservation tax credits, despite the fact that its removal takes the building back to its original 1890s appearance, Byrd says. The developer, architects and contractors decided to go ahead with the removal, he adds.

San Antonio mason Curtis Hunt Restorations Inc. removed the deteriorated mortar and replaced missing brick with similar brick salvaged from another site in Texas. More than 1 mi of brick mortar was re-pointed, Swan says.

The project, just to the north of downtown, has been one of the most visible landmarks in San Antonio since the brewery opened in 1883, and developers are hoping that its renovation helps spur redevelopment in the area.

"We hope it can be a catalyst for the neighborhoods around it and the Broadway corridor," Byrd said.

Along the adjacent San Antonio River, the city is working on a 4-mi extension of the River Walk, known as River North. The extended reach of the River Walk is expected to encourage office, retail and residential projects. Work on the Pearl Brewery project is expected to continue for several more years.

“It’s a gem that’s been a part of the San Antonio landscape for 120 years,” Byrd says. “We want to make sure we’re good caretakers of what was left to us.”