Bexar County leaders call Mission Reach vital - Triangle Business Journal:

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But local leaders believed that it is the planned Mission Reach improvements to the south of downtown which could have thegreatest impact, reinvigorating one of the city’s most historic The Mission Reach project is eight miles of planned river improvements from Lone Star Boulevard to Missionn Espada. Completion is scheduled for 2013 and some have been concernedc that this portion might neverbe completed. “Everyonre was concerned that this mighf notget done,” says Bexar Countuy Judge Nelson Wolff.
It didn’t help matter that the , which has managee the river improvements project, presentede a cost estimate for completing Missioh Reach that was off by morethan $100 General Manager Suzanne Scott says the Corpz of Engineers estimated that the Mission Reach project woul cost $126.6 million to construct. The revised estimats was $232.6 million. “Our assessment is that they underestimated the complexith ofthe project,” says Scott aboutg the Corps of Engineers. “They just didn’t factoe in everything that is involved.” Bexar Countty is kicking in anadditional $39.7 millionh worth of “betterments” via its venus tax revenues.
That raises the estimated totalto $271.i9 million. Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Adkisson’s precinct no longer includes the MissionReach area. But Adkisso has long been an advocate forSan Antonio’s Southb Side. And he says the completiomn of Mission Reach improvements is essential to the future of the southern sector ofthe city. “The southern reach is one of the most significant stretches of the SanAntonio River,” Adkisson “It’s important because an overwhelming portioj of San Antonio’s history comes from that stretch of the rivef and the nearby missions.
” South San Antonip Chamber of Commerce President Cindy Taylor says Mission Reachn improvements will spark job creation. “Nk pun intended, but it’s a ripple effect,” she says abouty a project that is expected to improvwe the look and feel of the river south of downtowj with the addition ofnew walking/biking trails and gatherin places. “Every bit helps the total package,” says Tom Rohdr about the impact Mission Reacgh improvements could have on theSouthh Side. Rohde is vice president of San Antonio-basede Rohde Ottmers Siegel Commerciak & Investment Realtors.
That firm is marketing a new retail center in the Mission Reach area at the corner of Southeast Loop 410 andRoosevelf Avenue. The developer is Boulder, Colo.-based . The projecy will ultimately span more than 200acres — land that, over the next severakl years, could accommodate retail as well as office, medical and multifamily projects. Rohde predictzs that the Mission Reach improvements will bringy more people to this southern secto r ofthe city. In an effortt to keep the project moving, Bexar Countyg Commissioners voted on June 2 to approve a new finance plan for the MissionReachj improvements.
Commissioners agreed to advanced $182 million in County Flood Tax revenues to cover the Missiojn Reach constructionand enhancements. Officials say the plan will not adverselgy affectthe county’s $500 million flood control programk or other planned capital projects. That decision by Bexar County Judge NelsonWolff “is probably the most important vote that will be takenm on the river because of all the confusioh and uncertainty about going south that has been on everybody’w minds for a Wolff, who also has South Side says advancing the County Flood Tax revenues to Mission Reachj is an “assurance that we are goiny to move forward.
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