Save Soap Factory Apartments

10/04/2024

• Thank you to all the people that have signed the petition, please try to keep on spreading the word and sharing it as much as possible because we need all the help we can get.

• I wanted to encourage you come to our cookout on October 7, 2024.
feel free to bring any items of snacks or food to/for the cookout, the more the merrier.

10/04/2024

10/03/2024

Help Soap Factory.

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/support-the-residents-of-the-soap-factory-apartments-and-tell-saisd-and-bexar-county-that-we-need-more-affordable-housing-for-families-downtown-not-less?source=direct_link&

Friend,

I signed a petition on Action Network telling Weston Urban + County Court of Commissioners to Support the residents of the Soap Factory Apartments and tell SAISD and Bexar County that we need more affordable housing for families downtown, not less!.

On September 12, 2024 San Antonio’s City Council voted to approve an MOU that would finance a downtown baseball stadium and would include demolishing the Soap Factory Apartments, which includes nearly 400 low-cost apartments. Residents at the Soap Factory Apartments have been fighting back against their planned displacement, demanding a seat at the table in these conversations. They are calling for more truly affordable housing for families downtown, not less, and between higher rents and the cost of moving, at a minimum, they will need far more than the $2,500 currently being made available to some households who will be displaced. San Antonio Independent School District owns a piece of land where developer Weston Urban wants to build the minor league AA baseball stadium, and the County has to approve diverting tax money to pay for the construction of the stadium in October. Sign the petition below to tell SAISD and the County Court of Commissioners that they need to drive a harder bargain that works for Soap Factory residents and all San Antonians. And plan to come to SAISD’s public input session at their headquarters (514 W Quincy) on October 7 at 6pm. SAISD will use this meeting to gather input before they take a vote on the sale of the land. Let’s come together to tell our elected officials that we need them to stand up for Soap Factory residents and for all of San Antonio.

09/05/2024

"But I just don’t think it should go by the Soap Factory (Apartments). The Soap Factory (Apartments) is historic, and it’s one of the last places that downtown people in the service industry have to live.”

The San Antonio Missions are expected to have a new ballpark built in downtown San Antonio by April 2028, according to a letter from Bexar County and the City of San Antonio to Major League Baseball.

09/05/2024

BILLIONAIRE Graham Weston playing San Antonio like a game.

That makes Mayor Ron Nirenberg his pawn.

09/04/2024

"Weston Urban, which co-owns the San Antonio Missions, also owns the Soap Factory Apartments. Proposed plans for the Missions stadium, include developing the land around the downtown arena. That would include demolishing the Soap Factory Apartments, displacing residents.

"The rate I have is fair," said James Cooley, a resident at the complex. "I’m more than happy with what I’m paying. I’m five minutes from where I work. And I don’t know what I’m going to do. where I’m going to go after that.""

Currently, the Soap Factory Apartments would displace residents in three separate phases, with the first phase starting late 2025, according to an owner.

09/04/2024

"But Council Member Teri Castillo called the idea that city funds aren’t going to be used “smoke and mirrors”"

San Antonio grassroots groups and Soap Factory Apartments tenants said they are worried about the plan displacing residents of the downtown complex.

09/04/2024

The billionaire's plan was revealed TWO WEEKS AGO! With NO public input!

"Details of the plan were first revealed two weeks ago when City staffers told City Council that the proposed $160 million ballpark would be built on mostly vacant parcels of land next to the San Pedro Creek Culture Park"

Council and the public split on reaction to a proposed downtown ballpark deal that keeps the Missions in San Antonio.

09/04/2024

"Shame on you," Esperanza Peace and Justice Center Director Graciela Sanchez told council members during the meeting's comment session. "This project is all about the rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer … and they will be displaced, and it won't just affect the Soap Factory Apartment dwellers, but it will affect everything close to the inner city, including the historic West Side community."

The $160 million plan would remove low-income housing, which raised concerns among residents and council members.