Local developer Mitch Meyer removed an addition to the Toudouze Building and is seeking a tenant for it.

Developer Mitch Meyer has purchased two historic buildings — one downtown and the other on the South Side — with plans to renovate and bring in new tenants.

“I just love old buildings,” he said.

Last week, the San Antonio developer bought the 10-story Exchange Building along the San Antonio River. It includes about 41 apartments and space for commercial tenants on the ground floor. It comes after his acquisition last winter of the Toudouze Building, where he’s seeking a retail tenant.

At the Exchange Building, Meyer has begun making cosmetic upgrades to the apartments as a step to get it fully leased. Currently, it’s about 65 percent occupied.

He plans to replace windows, add new mechanical systems and convert part of the vacant ground floor to provide amenities for residents. He’s seeking a tenant for the remaining space.

The building, at St. Mary’s and Pecan streets, was constructed in 1925 for the San Antonio Builders Exchange and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The original Builders Exchange Building was completed in 1925 by architects Emmet T. Jackson and George Willis.

It was later used as headquarters of the local chapter of the Association of General Contractors and as an office for American Hospital and Life Insurance.

In 1988, a partnership of developer Tom Guggolz, along with Ted Flato and David Lake of Lake Flato Architects, bought the building. They worked with the newly-formed nonprofit San Antonio Housing Trust Foundation to convert it from offices to apartments. Ten units were for residents earning up to 120 percent of the area median income.

It was “an early example of efforts to build housing downtown and the first example of (the trust) providing funds in the form of an equity investment,” Executive Director Pete Alanis said.

Ground floor tenants have included a deli and convenience store, Mediterranean restaurant Antibes, chef Michael Sohocki’s Restaurant Gwendolyn and Kimura, and chef Andrew Weissman’s Le Rêve and Sandbar.

Meyer declined to disclose the purchase price. The Bexar Appraisal District values it at $4.15 million.

The housing trust expects to receive $392,000 from the sale for its 9.2 percent stake. It was “not on a financial position” to offer to purchase and renovate the building so staff recommended approving the sale, according to minutes from its May 6 meeting.

Meyer said there’s demand for downtown housing and he expects to fill the apartments quickly.

It’s his second recent foray into redevelopment of historic buildings in San Antonio. Since earlier this year, he’s been working on the 1926 Toudouze Building, which sits on a triangular site bounded by Toudouze and South Flores streets and Pleasanton Road.

The building was once a community center and a store operated by South Texas businessman August Charles “A.C.” Toudouze. It has been vacant for years.

In 2020, the previous owner sought to raze and replace it with a car wash, but preservationists pursued landmark designation. Its Spanish Eclectic features were thought to have been covered by paint and signage from the 1980s, when it was a furniture store, according to city records.

The structure at Pleasanton Road and South Flores Street was once a store run by prominent South Texas businessman August Charles “A.C.” Toudouze and a community center.

Then-owner Mark Granados said it was not historic and argued that renovating it would be too expensive. But city staff said he did not provide documentation to demonstrate an unreasonable economic hardship. The Historic and Design Review Commission supported its designation as a landmark.

Meyer declined to disclose what he paid for the building, which the Bexar Appraisal District values at $459,510.

He’s demolished a circa-1960s addition, reducing the total square footage to 12,000 from about 21,400 square feet, creating more space for parking.

“It’s a beautiful building” in red brick with pine flooring on the second floor , Meyer said.

He is seeking to have the site rezoned and searching for a tenant. He thinks it could make an attractive location for a neighborhood grocery or another type of retailer. Options not under consideration: a car wash or pawn shop.

“It just needs to contribute to the neighborhood in some way,” Meyer said. “It’s a prominent corner.”

Last month, Meyer sold another of his historic holdings: the ornate Aurora Apartments at 509 Howard St. in Tobin Hill.

The 10-story Aurora was constructed between 1928 and 1930 as an upscale “apartment hotel,” according to a nomination for listing on the National Register.

After changing ownership several times, undergoing multiple renovations and being abandoned, it was converted to housing for low-income seniors in 1982.

The building does not have a sprinkler system because it was grandfathered out of rules initiated in 1982. Meyer said it would be pricey and difficult to put in sprinklers and he wanted to redevelop it, potentially as apartments or a hotel.

He proposed building apartments a block away at 311 W. Laurel St. and moving the Aurora’s residents there. Plans to get tax credits to finance the project fell through.

Meyer said Fairstead, a real estate company with offices in New York, Maryland and South Carolina, called with an offer he “couldn’t believe” and he sold it.

Fairstead plans to invest $15 million into rehabilitating the Aurora, which the company said will continue as affordable housing. Meyer said he still plans to construct apartments at Laurel Street in the future.

Madison Iszler covers real estate, retail, economic development, and other business topics for the San Antonio Express-News.

Reach Madison at 210-250-3242, madison.iszler@express-news.net and @madisoniszler.