SAN ANTONIO—Developed in 1917, Brooks Field (later Brooks Air Force Base and now Brooks City Base) is where aviator pioneers such as Charles Lindbergh earned their wings. The breakthroughs that took place at the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine includes the development of high altitude pressure suits for the nation's space program. Additionally, John F. Kennedy toured Brooks Air Force Base and gave a historical speech to a crowd of 10,000 people the day before he died.

Oftentimes, base closures are seen as negatively impacting a small town economy, however, plans for reuse of military bases have successfully been adopted in many parts of the country. For example, the PPA Group opened Aviator at Brooks, a 280-unit apartment community at the former Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio.

Under CLEAR Property Management, apartments opened for leasing in June 2016. The Aviator apartment community is rich in history, as it incorporates adaptive re-use of former Air Force barracks and dining hall with newly developed buildings. Three former barracks were transformed into studio, one-, and two-bedroom apartments, each with its own unique historical details. The former dining hall was converted into a spacious clubhouse, while seven additional buildings were built on the property housing one- to three-bedroom apartments, along with a limited number of townhomes with garages.

“There were no drawings or previous plans for this base built in 1917 but the property had great bones,” Monte Lee-Wen, founder of the PPA Group, tells GlobeSt.com. “We wanted to maintain the aviation history as much as possible. While retaining the roofing and exteriors to preserve history, we gutted the old Air Force barracks that had been abandoned for a decade, and rebuilt and restructured them. We wanted contemporary and vintage to be intertwined, to make a space for tenants in a live work play environment.”

The development team behind Aviator at Brooks includes the PPA Group, 210 Development Group, Catamount Constructors, Mark Odom Studio, Big Red Dog and MP Studio Landscape Architecture.

“The most important point was having a large contingency budget for the many unknowns,” Lee-Wen continues to tell GlobeSt.com. “The second important aspect was bringing together a team to understand adaptive reuse, risk mitigation and constraints on the buildings. The amount of planning, approximately three years, was tremendous, but we have a development that will last beyond our lifespan and go beyond future generations.”

This week, The PPA Group's Aviator project was named best multifamily development of 2017.

Instant Insights /

Complex Pays Homage to its Heritage

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