One of the state’s top urban treasures is San Antonio’s historic Pearl Brewery, which has has been reinvented over the past several years into a vibrant cultural and dining hub. Meetings Focus checked in with the Pearl’s chief marketing officer for the inside scoop.
How would you characterize the realization of Kit Goldsbury’s original vision for the Pearl’s renaissance?
The renovation and revitalization of the historic Pearl Brewery site was intended to create a dynamic and diverse food-centric neighborhood. Featuring the third national campus of the Culinary Institute of America, a year-round Farmers Market, 14 chef-driven restaurants, 12 unique shops, more than 500 residents and roughly 500 people working here each day, that vision is coming to life.
How has Pearl contributed to San Antonio’s visitor identity and group appeal?
The Pearl offers an immersive set of experiences that directly connect visitors and attendees with the brewery’s rich past. These include venue space in the historic Pearl Stables; Cured restaurant, housed in the former administration building; Boiler House Texas Grill and Wine Garden, set in the original boiler house; and opening in spring 2015, Hotel Emma in the historic brewhouse.
Visitors can organize private dinners and tastings in our 14 chef-driven restaurants; private shopping trips with our retailers, special premiums and keepsakes included; and property tours focused on themes present in the renovation, such as Pearl and San Antonio history, all things culinary, sustainable development, River Walk, local flora and fauna and more.
What will Hotel Emma add to the equation?
In addition to the practical and logistical enhancement of having a four-star hotel on-site, replete with considerable venue space, Emma will also afford the public the chance to enter the brewhouse for the first time since the brewery stopped operations in 1999.
Hotel Emma will feature many of the brewery’s historical elements, while serving as a world-class culinary destination under the guidance of Chef John Brand.
Is there more ahead?
Set to open in fall 2015, Pearl Plaza, in front of the hotel, will have a culinary garden, green spaces, water features, the permanent home for the Farmers Market and year-round activities and entertainment. At the same time, 100-plus high-end residential units will open alongside Hotel Emma facing the river.
