Work Underway on New H.E. Butt Family Foundation Facility on West Sunset
As we wrote in Happenings in August 2017, “Long-time 78209 residents may recall Fred Pottinger’s antique store, Horse of a Different Color, at 146 West Sunset.” Several structures sit on the slightly more than 1.5-acre property, which includes three lots. It was recently purchased by the H.E. Butt Family Foundation, from the current owner, Emily Dial, for an estimated $1.4 million.
Work is now underway to build a 10,000-square-foot structure on the property. It will house some 8-10 Foundation executives and staff, according to Patton Dodd, Executive Director, Storytelling & Communications, H. E. Butt Foundation.
In an email to me, Dodd explained, “We’ve just begun the process of renovating that site and preparing to build new offices for the Foundation. We plan to salvage as much as we can from the buildings that were there, and especially from the landscaping – we are retaining as many trees and plants as possible and incorporating them into site plans.”
“Our new offices should be built by the end of next year or early 2021. The H. E. Butt Foundation’s headquarters remain in Kerrville, Texas, but we are growing community initiatives focused partly on San Antonio, and working with several nonprofit partners in the area. We look forward to growing our presence here as we continue to serve families and children in need.”
The Foundation estimates the cost of the new project at $8.5 million. The work is expected to take 12 – 14 months.
OPNNA and Residents Adjacent to 1841 Flamingo Battle Over Zoning
Developer Peter Greenblum plans on building 20-single family garden homes on the nearly 1.5 acres at 1841 Flamingo, just off Broadway. He’s asking the city to rezone the property to IDZ-1, a new category of IDZ, to permit construction of the single-family homes.
As currently zoned, Greenwald told 78209 Magazine, the zoning may allow up to forty-two apartments. And if he’s denied the zoning change, that’s something he could consider.
Residents living adjacent to the property have been working with Greenblum for the past two years to develop a plan that satisfies the developer and the neighbors. Until now the Oak Park Northwood Neighborhood Association has steered clear of the negotiations on the property. The issue for OPNNA board members is the IDZ zoning designation. They don’t like it. They don’t want it.
Stay tuned for the outcome, which should be decided in August 2020.
SA Couple Launch New Children’s Boutique in Alamo Heights
Rhode & Layne features one-of-a-kind clothes for newborns on up. Cassie and her husband, Hunter, have opened the perfect children’s boutique, at 5934 Broadway, in the same center as Bird Bakery, across the street from Bike World.
I don’t say it’s the perfect children’s boutique lightly. It is.
Talking with Cassie, as I did the other day, gave me the sense that she hand-picked every item on display in their new boutique. From the 100% organic cotton newborn onesies, to the cute as can be shorts and t-shirts for three-year-old’s.
Intermixed throughout the store with the exceptional clothing are old-world wooden toys, tambourines, and such.
Read more about San Antonio’s newest power couple, Cassie and Hunter Fatheree, in 78209 Magazine (June 2020). They are quite the pair.
As for the name of the store, Rhode & Layne are their two son’s middle names.
By Ron Aaron Eisenberg
