The high rise residential building at Loop 410 and Blanco in Castle Hills, which was the scene of one of the region's deadliest fires in decades in December of 2014, is getting ready to reopen, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
What was called the Wedgewood Senior Center will reopen as the Ensemble Apartments.
Castle Hills Mayor Timothy Howell used the occasion to show off his Fire Department's new high rise ladder truck, to make sure something like that deadly fire never happens again.
"A brand new piece of equipment, its not more than six month old, it can reach all the way to the top," he said.
Five people died in the December 2014 fire that badly damaged the structure. But developer Patrick Biernacki and his team has spent the last four years upgrading the building into a luxury apartment complex which Mayor Howell says will be great for his city.
"I think it is going to mean a tremendous economic impact when the apartments gets filled up and you get that many people coming into the city," he said.
The seven acres where the Ensemble Apartments stands is very historic, with a land record going back to the 1830s, when Texas pioneer Jericho Bancroft was awarded the land for his service to the new republic.
The land was placed on the National Register of Historic Placement in 2016, which makes it eligible for state and federal tax credits which will allow the Ensemble to offer rent and levels significantly below traditional senior housing.