Fifteen years ago it was an abandoned and dangerous abandoned 19th Century brewery. Today, the Pearl was named one of the five 'Great Places in America' by the American Planning Association.
The City today celebrated that award with an official proclamation from Mayor Nirenberg, who said the Pearl's development was a tipping point for the City of San Antonio.
"If you have been welcoming visitors over the many decades to the City of San Antonio, you noticed that six or eight years ago, the city began to change, and you started taking them to some different places," Nirenberg said.
Silver Ventures, the development company founded by Kit Goldsbury, took a chance and purchased the Pearl site after the brewing operations closed in 2001. At the time, the site was full of abandoned buildings, the area routinely flooded, and Lower Broadway was a hive of run down buildings, hookers, and porn shops.
Today, the Pearl itself houses dozens of shops and restaurants, upscale apartments, corporate headquarters, key parts of the city's growing tech industry, as well as the Culinary Institute of the Americas and the Hotel Emma, named after early 20th Century brewmistress Emma Koehler, which is one of the most honored hotels in the world.
In addition, the Pearl development has recreated San Antonio. Lower Broadway is now one of the most vibrant parts of the city, and the Pearl has created spin off developments across the north end of downtown.
"The neighborhoods recognized this eyar are proof that planning creates more vibrant, equitable, healthy neighborhoods," said Cynthia Bowen, Presidednt of the APA. "Through dedicated, community wide engagement efforts, this year's designees are crating better places for all, and setting an example for other neighborhoods nationwide."