The man who brought downtown San Antonio’s SoFlo District to life died late last month at the age of 80.

Charlie Acuña played a central role in the development that cascades down Flores Street and into the Southtown area over the past 30 years, turning dilapidated buildings into the mix of housing and commercial property that exists today.

His family said he had a gift for seeing potential.

“Where others saw run-down warehouses, my dad saw opportunities,” said Christa Acuña, his daughter.

Along with Nora Acuña, his wife and business partner, the pair worked to build the Cevallos Lofts, now called Trove Southtown, as well as offices and lofts in the area.

Charlie and Nina Acuña Credit: Courtesy / Acuna family

“In the beginning stages of the revitalization of the SoFlo area, people would still turn their noses up at the thought of living in that area,” Christa Acuña said. “Their attitude didn’t diminish my dad’s vision, though. It only fueled it.”

State Sen. José Menéndez (D-26), who was serving on San Antonio City Council at the time, said he was one of the first people to see the possibilities in the area.

“It was a catalyst for more investment in the community,” Menéndez said. “He was a developer, sure, but he was a developer with a vision and a heart for helping revitalize the community.”

Charlie Acuña was born in a Mexican American family in El Paso in 1944, during the segregation era.

He and his family faced discrimination and he struggled in school, but his daughter says he didn’t let those challenges hold him back. He worked in clothing manufacturing for companies like Levi Strauss and Farah Manufacturing.

He then went on to open his own manufacturing plant in El Paso doing work for Farah, Calvin Klein and other clothing brands. That’s where Charlie and Nora first met.

The couple moved to San Antonio to expand their business in the 1980s. Charlie Acuña loved the city, his wife said. And he was “gifted with everything production.”

But when the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994, it forced the Acuñas to close their manufacturing business. That’s when they pivoted, Nora said, finding a new future for the warehouses they owned.

“This led him to mobilize his creative mind and repurpose the properties,” she said. “He coined the name SoFlo District, as we owned several properties on South Flores, and began the new stage of our business. He created beautiful spaces.”

Charlie Acuña

Menéndez said Charlie Acuña brought a personal touch to development, tackling design himself to create livable spaces that people hadn’t thought of.

“He could take an old building that had been discarded,” Menéndez said. “And rehab it so people would want to be there.”

That signaled to other investors that South Flores was a place to be.

It wasn’t just what he did, though, but how he did it. Debra Guerrero is another former City Council member, who now works in the housing development sector. She worked with Charlie Acuña for two decades.

“He was always focused on, how do I make the communities that have seen less investment better?” Guerrero said “How do I reinvest in those communities that, honestly, the private market seems to ignore?”

He created community spaces, she said, and brought community members and neighbors out to openings. His developments included affordable housing, she said, creating mixed-income apartment and loft complexes.

“San Antonio mattered to my dad because it was home. It was where his family lived, and it was our community,” said Christa Acuña. “He wanted San Antonio to flourish—not only for us, but for people who might not have been given a chance otherwise.”