Aspire San Marcos
Finalist: Best Student Housing Rental Apartment Community
Nominated by: Humphreys & Partners Architects
Location: San Marcos, TX
Developer: The Dinerstein Companies
Architect: Humphreys & Partners Architects
General Contractor: The Dinerstein Companies
Interior Designer: Kathy Andrews Interiors
Project Statement
Aspire San Marcos aims to support the city’s burgeoning student population. Texas State University had seen 19 consecutive years of enrollment growth, until recently when total enrollment was relatively flat compared to the year prior at 38,694 students. In fall 2017, the university recorded its largest freshman class ever with 5,875 new students.
Construction is also booming around campus. The university has about $700 million worth of planned upgrades to school buildings and residence halls. Texas State President Denise Trauth’s goal is to have all freshman and a third of sophomores living on campus.
It’s also why Aspire’s Target was incorporated into the site. This small-format version of the store features a curated mix of the merchandise categories found at full-size locations, such as food, apparel, health and beauty, and home décor. Target builds these stores specifically for densely populated urban and suburban settings, and near college campuses.
Aspire San Marcos has been in the works for more than a decade — but it took the right confluence of market demand and entitlements to help the project finally move forward.
Originally Casey Development wanted to build a three-story mixed-use project there but modified plans in 2013 to go more vertical with 13 stories. Eventually it got approval from the San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission to build higher.
The developer wanted to make sure it got the project right, and there were a number of entitlement challenges that finally got the project to meet the market and the demand as Texas State University continues its growth.
Combining luxury living with eco-friendly design, Aspire is LEED-certified Gold and uses a variety of green features, including on-site recycling program, low volatile organic compound (VOC) finishes, carbon monoxide monitors, green label carpet and padding, and more.
