The gate at the end of Lone Star Boulevard has been locked for years, guarding a graffiti-covered brewhouse that's sat empty since 1996. Now the site's newest owner says the road leading to it, not the brewery itself, is the first thing that has to change before any redevelopment can begin.
Southstar, the company that bought the 32-acre Lone Star Brewery property in January 2026, has committed to funding improvements to Lone Star Boulevard, according to the San Antonio Report. The two-lane roadway is less than half a mile long and runs along the north side of the brewery site, stretching from Probandt Street to Roosevelt Park, but it currently leads only to the brewery's locked entry gate. Southstar President and CEO Thad Rutherford said he is “110% confident” the old brewery will finally be redeveloped, per the same outlet's reporting.
The company kicked off a community input effort in March 2026, and design renderings and site plans have since debuted before neighborhood residents, per the San Antonio Report. Those renderings for the boulevard reconstruction show removed fencing, new landscaping, sidewalks and shade trees. Southstar's broader redevelopment concept includes wide sidewalks, maker spaces and housing, with the company prioritizing an icehouse-style restaurant along the river as an early anchor.
A Road Project Years in the Making
Lone Star Boulevard was actually slated for reconstruction under the city's 2017 bond, which set aside $5 million for widening, intersection improvements, and pedestrian and bicycle facilities meant to improve site access and neighborhood connectivity. Those fully engineered plans were put on hold in summer 2023, and the project funds were reallocated after the brewery property went back on the market that year, the outlet reports. Rutherford said Southstar must now improve Lone Star Boulevard itself, and the company and the city are discussing how Southstar could be reimbursed for the public-road work. Per Rutherford, the boulevard reconstruction plans should receive city approval later this year, with construction slated to begin in early 2027.
Juan Lopez, vice president of the Lone Star Neighborhood Association, told the San Antonio Report he's seen roughly four similar presentations over the past 20 years — a reflection of the Lone Star district's long history of redevelopment starts and stops that has frustrated both neighbors and city leaders. Residents from Roosevelt Park, Lavaca and surrounding Lone Star neighborhoods have repeatedly raised concerns about the boulevard's condition, according to the report.
Bankruptcy, a Failed $709 Million Plan, and a Fresh Start
The brewery complex at 600 Lone Star Boulevard was built in 1933 and began brewing Lone Star Beer in 1940, operating for 56 years before shutting down for good in 1996, as detailed by Community Impact. San Antonio-based GrayStreet Partners and Houston-based Midway acquired the property out of bankruptcy in April 2020 for $14.45 million and proposed a $709 million mixed-use project, but that plan stalled amid rising interest rates and construction costs before the site went back on the market in 2022, according to the San Antonio Report. Prior to Southstar's purchase, the 32-acre site was assessed at roughly $18.5 million to $18.6 million by the Bexar Central Appraisal District, per The Real Deal.
Southstar has hired independent development consultant Peter French, who previously served as director of development for GrayStreet Partners during its earlier attempt at the site, to help guide district planning and public infrastructure, the San Antonio Report notes. That continuity in project leadership spans two very different ownership eras at a site that's proven difficult to redevelop for decades.
Historic Tax Credits and a Bigger Footprint
Southstar, which has primarily operated as a single-family housing developer, is seeking historic tax credits for the graffiti-covered brewhouse, which could reduce the company's tax liability, though the report notes Southstar has no definite plans yet for that structure. City officials have also clarified that the $24 million incentive package the city council approved for the site's redevelopment back in May 2021 — 15 years of tax rebates that were, at the time, the largest urban development incentive the city had approved — will not automatically transfer to Southstar, according to the San Antonio Express-News.
Southstar is also in talks with the owners of the adjacent Newell Recycling plant property along Probandt Street, and that parcel would be incorporated into the overall Lone Star site plan if a deal comes together, per the San Antonio Report. The company has separately sought to acquire other neighboring parcels, including a defunct Mission Road power plant owned by CPS Energy, which could expand the redevelopment footprint to more than 70 acres along the San Antonio River, the Express-News reported.
Redevelopment Obstacles and River Access
Past redevelopment attempts at the site have been hampered by environmental contamination from previous industrial uses, blighted structures, inadequate electrical infrastructure, and structural fires, including one in April 2021, according to the Express-News. The brewery site itself features more than a quarter-mile of direct river frontage along the San Antonio River's Mission Reach section, sitting about 1.5 miles south of downtown within the Southtown Arts District, per Midway. The site also sits near planned transit-oriented development along VIA Metropolitan Transit's upcoming Green and Silver bus rapid transit lines, the Express-News reported.
Rutherford said the Lone Star site deserves to become something for the community after decades of vacancy. Southstar is simultaneously developing Mayfair, a 2,400-acre master-planned community in nearby New Braunfels where it has invested more than $108 million in infrastructure as of July 2026, according to prior Hoodline reporting. An online project survey for the Lone Star redevelopment remains open to the public.
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