The Brewery
When operations ceased at the Pearl Brewery in 2001, many thought it would be the end for the brewery's buildings. The brewery's proximity to the core of Downtown San Antonio and the easy access to several highways led many to believe it would be a prime target to be razed and replaced. However, the two attributes, along with another surprise development, actually saved the brewery facilities and helped to ensure its architecture would survive. San Antonio has begun work to expand the River Walk north to where the river meets U.S. Route 281. As luck would have it, the Pearl Brewery is mere feet from a section of the river expansion, thus making it an attractive location and eligible for incentives by the city to assist business development.
Toward the end of 2002, Silver Ventures, a San Antonio-based investment firm, purchased the 23-acre (93,000 m2) brewery site. Fortunately, the company has big plans for many of the current structures on the brewery property, with the hopes to attract businesses as well as River Walk tourists. The dream of Silver Ventures is that once completed, the former brewery will be a village within eyesight of the skyscrapers of Downtown San Antonio. In a local article, Bill Shown, the development's managing director, described an area that would house an event hall, schools, retail, office and residential space. The idea is to create an area where people can live, shop, and work, yet a close-knit-enough community where residents know the shop owners.
The first phase of rehabilitation and restoration included the garage, a large brick storage shed, and the former hospitality room/stables. The brewery's garage, which was built in 1939, houses the Aveda Institute, a global company focusing on environmentally friendly personal products. In the same building as Aveda, there's an excellent cafe named Texas Farm to Table, which only uses Texas-grown ingredients. The renovation updated the building to meet the current business needs, but still maintains the brewery feel to the exterior by reusing beer storage tanks as landscaping water tanks and a few of the garage's old red pumps. The garage was the first facility opened in Silver Ventures' new Pearl Brewery and gave the public a glimpse of what was to come.
The Center for Foods of the Americas (CFA), an upscale culinary institute developed by the Culinary Institute of America, utilizes one of the brewery's large sheds. CFA was originally planned to occupy the former bottling shop, but a mysterious fire in November 2003 gutted the building and forced its demolition. CFA's current building's old garage doors have been removed and replaced by large windows to show off the lines of counters, sinks, and spotless shiny pots hanging from the ceiling. The school offers a 30-week Culinary Arts Certificate Program, geared to take students from the very basics of cooking to the masterpiece where students prepare their own graduation celebration. In January 2008, CFA transformed from a Culinary Institute of America supported program, to a full fledged campus and was renamed the Culinary Institute of America–San Antonio.
The former Pearl Corral/Jersey Lilly has been completely remodeled and renamed. Now called the Pearl Stable, the new facility opened in May 2006 and serves as the showpiece of Phase 1 of the overall project. The building retained its oval shape, and architects rebuilt the glazed skylight cupola and a recreation of the stable's false-front pediment, which were originally on the stable. Above the main entrance, the pediment displays the stable’s construction date, 1894. The Pearl Stable is geared to compete with other event halls by offering a full commercial kitchen, easy loading access for caterers, and a state-of-the-art theatrical lighting and sound system. In addition, Pearl Stable will eventually house a museum section featuring the brewery's history through pictures, artifacts, and memorabilia. When Pearl Stable opened, Silver Ventures reached a milestone in the project, phase 1 was completed.
May 2006 also saw the return of another piece of history to the Pearl Brewery. As the new Pearl Stable opened its doors, Engine #2 of the Texas Transportation Company returned from a complete restoration. Originally built 1909 as lot #758 by the St. Louis, Missouri-based St. Louis Car Company, Engine #2 saw service with two Texas-based companies prior to coming to Pearl. The engine saw most of its career in use at the Pearl Brewery after the Texas Transportation Company purchased the engine in 1948. Today the engine's paint scheme is exactly the one used on the locomotive from the time it arrived at the brewery up through the early 1970s. Restored at the country's premier locomotive and passenger car restoration service, the Trans-Texas Rail Shop, Engine #2 is immaculate and one of the few examples of electric locomotives on display.
The Recycling Center, now known as the Can Recycle building, wrapped up construction in early December 2006. The old building itself is now gone, but the large silo that was decorated as a Lone Star beer can was retained. The new structure is close to the shape of the old building, but its interior layout and use is vastly different. The Lone Star logo has been re-skinned with a shiny new can depicting the brewery's retro logo, neon beer bubbles, and the phrase "Enjoy the Finer Life," all accentuated with night time lighting. The new facility contains three studio apartments along with two business spaces. The majority of the building is occupied by the Synergy Studio, which provides a full line of yoga classes along with Nia, pilates, and numerous other movement based workouts. The smaller retail space along Avenue A houses Run Wild Sports which specializes in running supplies.
In late 2008 construction completed on the old shipping warehouse on the north end of the brewery, now called Full Goods. The building was partially demolished and the remaining front section stripped of its aluminum siding skin. New sections were added on to the building to expand its space and divide the floor plans into a variety of commercial offices and retail space. The north side, which runs along Grayson Street, will serve as two-story low cost live/work apartments for artists, where the artists can work in studio space on the ground floor and live on the second floor. In November 2008, tenants of Full Goods began moving in. The CE Group, an events hosting company responsible for all events at the brewery, were the first to move into the building’s new office spaces. By the end of the year the building will house Silver Ventures, Rio Perla Properties, American Institute of Architects San Antonio, and The Nature Conservancy. Continuing with Silver Ventures' focus on food, Full Goods also houses Melissa Guerra, a Latin America food products and kitchen store as well as two restaurants: Il Sogno an Italian restaurant and La Gloria which will offer Mexican street food. Full Goods is also home to a $1.35 million solar energy project, Texas' largest, with the capacity to generate 200 kilowatts of electricity.
Restoration continues on the brew house, the centerpiece of the complex. Silver Ventures recently wrapped up 18 months of restoration on the building's exterior. Today the outside looks much like it did in 1894, especially with the return of the San Antonio Brewing Association company name back to the building plaque. The golden cupolas and white wash are gone from the building, instead the rooftops are charcoal, their original color, and the walls have been stripped down to show their natural stone. The brew house project is far from complete though, with plenty of work remaining on the middle and rear of the building, as well as the entire interior.
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