West Side landmark Basila Frocks gets new life
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
The renovated Basila Frocks. Photo: Courtesy of LeRoy Cavazos-Reyna
When Basila Frocks opened on the West Side in 1929, it became a hub of creativity and opportunity. Now, it's getting a second life nearly a century later after a full renovation.
Why it matters: After years of abandonment, the historic building's renovation brings development rooted in preservation, affordability and local entrepreneurship to a long underserved part of the city.
The latest: Basila Frocks reopened in December as an anchor for small business and community programming.
What they did: Nonprofit Prosper West partnered with developer DreamOn Group to renovate the building on North Zarzamora, aiming to lower barriers for neighborhood entrepreneurs.
By the numbers: A 15–16 month restoration transformed the roughly 23,000-square-foot former dress factory into retail and office spaces.
- Prosper West received $945,000 from the Westside Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), and the project also used new market and historic tax credits, senior advisor to DreamOn Group LeRoy Cavazos-Reyna tells Axios.
- That funding structure allows finished storefronts to lease for about $2 per square foot — far below the typical $15–$20 commercial rate, Janie Villarreal McClinchie, director of community engagement for DreamOn Group, tells Axios.
Flashback: The Basila family, who were Syrian immigrants, opened the factory amid the city's garment industry boom. Mostly Latina seamstresses worked there until the factory closed in 1936.
- In later decades it housed restaurants, wrestling matches and ballrooms that hosted quinceañeras, dances and concerts.
Between the lines: Generations of San Antonians passed through its doors, making it a shared touchstone in the city's memory.
- The building received a local historic landmark designation in 2023.
Zoom in: First-floor tenants include Gallery Youngblood Art, Poderosa & Co. and Que Retro Arts. Hermes Coffee is building out a shop.
- Upstairs office tenants include DreamOn Group, Prosper West, a photographer, an immigration attorney and a forthcoming satellite office for county Commissioner Justin Rodriguez.
What they're saying: "We constantly hear over and over again, 'Thank you for saving this building. Thank you for bringing it back to the community,'" Villarreal McClinchie says.
What's next: A mural honoring the building's history and Women's History Month will be unveiled March 28, 5-8pm.