Neighborhood Revitalization Project
The St. Mary's University Revitalization Project is a collaboration with our neighbors and the University Park Neighborhood Association focusing on commercial transformation, housing rehabilitation, infrastructure and quality of life improvements.Recent News
Boosting the West Side
Now that St. Mary's University has put its weight behind an economic renewal effort, Frank Montoya thinks prospects may be turning for the neglected West Side neighborhood where his family for decades has operated an automotive center.“We're behind 30 to 40 years, and we need to catch up,” said Montoya, who operates Northwest Automotive Warehouse Inc., one of two area businesses that each received a $12,500 grant from the university's revitalization initiative for facility improvements.
“You can talk all you want to. Now we're trying to do things,” he said.
The other grant recipient is A Blessed Child No. 2, a day care on Cincinnati Avenue.
The catalyst for the area's new optimism is a multipronged initiative using federal, state and city funding that has a uniquely capable and determined institution as its driver — St. Mary's.
Read the full article at www.mysa.com.
St. Mary's continues free consulting
assistance to businesses
The Small Business Institute within St. Mary's University's Bill Greehey School of Business is accepting both small and nonprofits business clients for the fall 2010 semester.
Read the full article at www.mysa.com.
Business in Phase I Area reviewed
in San Antonio-Express News
Pocket park transforms University Park
Over Easter weekend 2010, a new pocket park was completed at the intersection of Cincinnati, Tulane and Stonegate. The project, which transformed the former traffic island into a welcoming green space, is directly viewable by many residents and by many more visitors to the area. Partners in the project were District 7 Councilman Rodriguez, the City of San Antonio, Preferred Landscape and Lighting (who provided the time and labor free-of-charge) and the St. Mary's Neighborhood Revitalization Project.See photographs of the project in stages at St. Mary's flickr, or read more indepth about the project's partners on St. Mary's blog.
Small Business Summit
On Feb. 10, 2010, the small business community was invited to a free summit offering information on how to access resources for improving facilities and operations. Invited presenters included ACCION Texas, Bexar County Purchasing, City Purchasing, Westside Development Corporation and VIA Metropolitan Transit.District Funds Benefit Pocket Park, Woodlawn Lake
City Manager Sheryl Sculley designated $30 million from past City bonds, with $2.5 million available to each Council District. Councilman Justin Rodriguez announced at the University Park Neighborhood Association meeting on April 14 that $50,000 of district funds will go toward creating a pocket park at the intersection of Cincinnati, Stonegate and Tulane. Another $500,000 will fund enhancements of Woodlawn Lake.
78228 the Best Zip Code for Real Estate
According to Business Week magazine’s March 2009 issue, the 78228 zip code has the biggest listing price gains in the country’s largest metropolitan areas. The news indicates that home buyers are more interested in middle-class neighborhoods like University Park than condominiums, large-scale homes, and far away housing developments.
Visit Business Week for the full story.
St. Mary's Neighborhood Survey Results
In an effort to gauge the needs and concerns of the residential community, more than 250 neighborhood residents responded to a survey about their community. Here are some of the results:
- Half of the respondents considered quality of life in their neighborhood to be excellent or good.
- Almost half attended Fiesta Oyster Bake last year.
- About three-quarters of the respondents drive three miles or less to go to the grocery store, drug store and gas station.
To see more results, view the summary of the fall 2008 neighborhood survey.
St. Mary’s Neighborhood Revitalization Effort Begins
In the current economic climate and housing crisis, business loans, affordable mortgages, emergency mortgage assistance and quality of life resources are in high demand. Today St. Mary’s University President Charles L. Cotrell, Ph.D., announced the University’s far-reaching neighborhood revitalization efforts designed to respond to the immediate needs of the community.
Cotrell announced the details and scope of the University’s neighborhood revitalization project, outlined the services that a new resource center housed on the University campus will provide to residents and business owners, and the hiring of the project director who will coordinate all revitalization programs and initiatives.
“As an urban Catholic university with a long history in San Antonio, St. Mary’s is dedicated to being a responsible corporate citizen and responsible neighbor,” said Cotrell. “As part of this community and a major employer, St. Mary’s has a vested interest to help our neighborhood thrive. It is part of our 156 year history, and our Marianist tradition and mission to advance the common good through community service and outreach.”
The University’s revitalization effort is part of St. Mary’s five-year strategic plan, Vision 2012, which was laid out by Cotrell in 2007. It calls for the University to collaborate with its neighbors to revitalize the areas surrounding the campus and to be more actively involved in community outreach, development and improvement. The Neighborhood Revitalization Task Force – formed in response to Vision 2012 – identified the target areas to include University Park and parts of the Jefferson/Woodlawn Lake, Prospect Hill, Loma Vista, Memorial Heights, Loma Park and Third World neighborhoods.
“The Task Force’s efforts began more than a year ago,” said Task Force Chairman Ramiro Cavazos, president/CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a St. Mary’s alumnus. “St. Mary’s is providing the leadership to put together a comprehensive plan for revitalization. The Task Force, the University and all of our partners are collaborating to address this community’s pressing needs now. The current state of the economy makes accelerating our efforts even more important today.”
The first step in phase one of the neighborhood revitalization project was taken today by announcing Steve Nivin, Ph.D., the former chief economist and industry development manager for the City of San Antonio, as the project’s director. Nivin was chosen as project director because of his expertise in economic development, preparing economic impact studies, market research, community development plans and identifying community infrastructure improvement needs. His background and resources ensure that residents, homeowners and business owners seeking assistance will get the help they need. Nivin will also be an assistant professor of economics at St. Mary’s.
Phase one also includes the opening of a resource center. When it is fully operational in January 2009, the center will serve as the community’s epicenter for change. Housed in the AT&T Center for Information Technology on the St. Mary’s campus, immediately inside the University’s Culebra Road entrance, the center will be easily accessible to area residents.
“The center is the physical mechanism to deliver to residents those housing, economic development and volunteer resources they themselves have identified as most needed in their neighborhood,” said Nivin.
An affordable housing counselor will provide low-income area residents with fair housing counseling and homeownership education, including pre-qualifying mortgage application services. Assistance to home down payments, emergency mortgage and utility payments, and home repairs will also be available. A social services caseworker will assist the housing counselor by verifying eligibility for services as well as help to provide credit counseling and information about existing City services for work readiness training and child care. Loans and technical assistance for small businesses will also be provided through the University and the project’s partners.
Staffing and the future opening of the resource center were made possible by last month’s nearly $600,000 HUD grant, awarded to St. Mary’s through the Hispanic Serving Institutions Assisting Communities program. Additional leveraged funds for the revitalization project have come from private and public sector partners, including the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, San Antonio Alternative Housing Corp., Community Development Loan Fund, Citi Foundation, ACCIÓN Texas, St. Mary’s University Alumni Association and the City of San Antonio. The City also designated the area as a Partnership Project with a $10,000 grant. This is the first step in possibly being awarded a Neighborhood Commercial Revitalization grant of $370,000, over a six year period.
St. Mary’s faculty, staff, students and alumni will also provide 4,500 hours of technical assistance and community service through service learning and organized community improvement and beautification projects.
