The Life Tower building defines the orientation of San Antonio in a luxury apartment community of 242 units in a redevelopment led by McCombs Enterprises and Jordan Foster Construction.
The height almost centenary at 310 S. St. Mary’s St. It is scheduled to re-open in the fall of 2026 as Tower Life Residences, a project that developers say will preserve their historical character while teaming it with modern systems and services.
Completed in 1929 and listed in the National Register of Historical Places, the 31 -story tower is known for its green tile and ornamental gargoyles.
The redevelopment will add a commercial space at the river level and will have three attics, including a two -story residence of 360 degrees with terraces with terraces overlooking the city center.
“This project is the perfect fusion of two of Jordan Foster’s strengths: multifamily and adaptive reuse,” said Roy Rains, chairman of the Jordan Foster construction group. “We are not just building apartments … we are [building] A vibrant future for the urban center of the center of San Antonio. “”
Conservation work and retrophic
Jordan Foster officials said that the renovation follows the Department of the Brief Interior Preservation to ensure that the building maintains its national registration state.
The plans ask to clean and replace historical masonry, restore 15 original steel windows along the river northern elevation, and preserve terrazzo flooring in the residential corridors.
Completed in 1929, the Life Tower building on San Antonio 31 floors is a neomo-Gothic skyscraper, which is in the National Register of Historic Places, recognized by its hallmark of distinctive green tiles, ornamented gargoyles and a lasting presence on the city’s line. ((Wikimedia Commons)
The first floor lobby will be preserved in its current condition, which is only in a cleaning and restoration of whole light at the end of the project.
Maintaining historical integrity while integrating modern systems is not a small feat and requires extensive restorations. The crews will be coordinated with CPS Energy to install a new vault and transformers, providing permanent power in late spring of 2026.
Jordan Foster says that three lifts will be eliminated and replaced by a scale tower and a staircase pressurization system, whereas three others will be modernized to improve energy efficiency.
Other works include cutting a new lightwell that covers the 7th on the second floor to improve natural light on units oriented to an adjacent garage.
Four passenger elevators, a goods lift and a six -story staircase are being eliminated to create a new residential space, with gaps that are included with structural steel and new concrete slabs.
New mechanical persecutions and additional steel reinforcements are also installed to transport updated MEP systems.
“Our team is dedicated to the building in its new life,” Krista McCabe, head of Jordan Foster’s main project, said in an email. “We are committed to preserving what this building best … This is not just another project for us; it is a legacy.”
The redevelopment team comprises McCombs Enterprises, Jordan Foster Construction, Ed Cross, Jon Wiegand, Front Porch Design Group, Alamo Architects and J. Jeffers & Co., based on Milwaukee, with CPS Energy and the city of San Antonio also as partners.
Jordan Foster emphasized his confidence in local subcontractors and the workforce of the project.
The developers have rejected disseminating the cost of the project. Industry reference points for adaptive reuse suggest a problem between $ 80 million and $ 110 million for a building on this scale and complexity. A Fannie Mae adaptive reuse guide places these projects at about $ 400,000 per unit, which, applied to the 242 Tower Life units, produce a higher estimate of about $ 97 million.
