By James McCandless – Reporter, San Antonio Business Journal
Story Highlights
- EMBREY will demolish Treehouse Apartments and build Grove Place with 300 units.
- The new complex includes a fitness center, clubhouse, and 50 public parking spaces.
- Construction begins in the first quarter of 2027 in Alamo Heights.
A national apartment developer is eyeing a project in its hometown again.
San Antonio real estate firm EMBREY is planning to tear down the 106-unit Treehouse Apartments in Alamo Heights and build Grove Place, an apartment community just off Broadway. Owned by Ridgemont Properties, the new complex at 101 Arcadia Place will include an estimated 300 units, along with a fitness center, clubhouse and other resort-style amenities.
Brad Knolle, executive vice president of development at EMBREY, told the Business Journal that Ridgemont brought the deal to the team last year. Grove Place would replace the existing garden-style apartments with something more compact. The deal is being pursued independently by EMBREY, though Ridgemont retains ownership of the land. The project is not a joint venture, though Knolle said that could change.
“We’re going back in with a higher-density development, Class-A construction and demolishing the existing apartments,” Knolle said, adding that 50 public parking spaces are also part of the plans to help alleviate parking congestion in the area.
He said before presenting to the Alamo Heights City Council on June 22, there have been a number of community meetings to discuss the project, where the reception has been positive. He chalks that up to EMBREY’s deep ties to the area.
“The fact that we have a lot of experience developing in the central city up and down, in Lincoln Heights, at Pearl… so everybody’s glad to see that it’s EMBREY,” he said.
Beyond the complex itself, Knolle said Grove Place will allow more people a cheaper way to live in a booming corridor.
“The benefit to the community is it will be multifamily Class A apartment rents, but by all means it’s more affordable than owning a new home in Alamo Heights,” he said. The rents will be cheaper than the firm’s 7600 Broadway, which delivered in 2023.
Knolle also said this development opportunity was unique, and that the firm is not actively looking for similar projects to pursue in the Alamo Heights area. Construction is expected to start in the first quarter of 2027.
Lake Flato is the design architect.
ABOUT EMBREY
EMBREY is a diversified, partner-led real estate investment company that develops, invests, builds, acquires, and manages multifamily and commercial assets. Since 1974, family-owned EMBREY has developed more than 50,000 apartments and over 6 million square feet of commercial property in Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee. San Antonio-based EMBREY is a leading developer in the multifamily sector, with more than 6,000 units under construction or in development. www.embrey.com.
