San Antonio Hotel Conversion Faces Foreclosure, Liens

A once-promising hotel project in downtown San Antonio is drowning in more legal and financial troubles.

Blueprint Hospitality, the Houston-based company behind the hotel conversion at 145 Navarro Street, is facing a $3.1 million mechanic’s lien from Premier Project Management, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. The lien, filed on Jan. 29, claims the company is owed payment for project management, construction management and interior design services.

The filing asserts that Premier’s work has been substantially completed but that the company has not been paid. The project called for converting the office building at 145 Navarro Street into a 243-room hotel under Marriott’s Autograph Collection brand.

Blueprint Hospitality, headed by CEO Kunal Mody, is already embroiled in a foreclosure lawsuit over the 99-year-old former CPS Energy building that started in October.

The firm purchased the property two years ago and obtained a $14.35 million loan from TransPecos Banks to fund the redevelopment. However, it defaulted on two loans last year: one from TransPecos and another from BV Capital.

The loans were transferred to Colorado-based hotel company 5 Senses Hospitality Management, which, under the name Riverwalk Reposition Partners, issued a default acceleration notice.

5 Senses claims Blueprint owes $16.7 million and has left the property in a severely damaged state, including significant water damage throughout the building, with mold and standing water present in various sections. The note holder has requested a receiver to oversee the foreclosure, citing the extensive nature of the building’s deterioration.

Blueprint Hospitality has not provided a response to the situation.

Adaptive reuse of historic buildings is a big part of San Antonio’s development scene.

Houston-based InnJoy Hospitality is converting the former Nix Medical Center, a 24-story building constructed in 1930, into apartments.

And a $46 million renovation from Trestle Studio, the Town Lake Company and Sopris Capital could return El Tropicano River Walk Hotel, built in 1962, to its former glory.

— Andrew Terrell