Frost Reveals Milestone San Antonio Tower

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Frost Tower, San Antonio, rendering

San Antonio—Weston Urban revealed the design of the new Frost Tower, a 420,000-square-foot office building in downtown San Antonio. As Commercial Property Executive reported in September 2015, the Texas-based developer is working with architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli.

“There is nothing like it in our market. Firms like Pelli Clarke Pelli are not typically associated with San Antonio,” Randy Smith, Weston Urban’s CEO, told Commercial Property Executive. “Their world class design, paired with the inherent walkability of our urban core and the renovated San Pedro Creek immediately next door offer tenants a package that cannot be matched anywhere else in South or Central Texas.”

Frost Tower will serve as the new corporate, regional headquarters for Frost, a banking and financial services company that has called downtown San Antonio home for nearly 150 years. In addition, 20,000 square feet on the ground level will be reserved for retail.

“At Frost, we are looking forward to seeing the new tower on the skyline and being part of an energized downtown,” Phil Green, Frost’s chairman & CEO, said in a prepared release. “After seeing the Frost sunburst go up on new buildings in downtown Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth, we’re glad to be the named tenant of the newest building in our hometown of San Antonio.”

The 23-floor building will rise 400 feet and be the first office tower built for the downtown skyline in 27 years.

“It has been three decades since our downtown has seen new office product,” Smith said. “Our entire city has so much positive momentum, together with Frost we knew that now was the time for something transformative.”

Last June, the City of San Antonio approved a public-private partnership agreement between Weston Urban, Frost, and COSA. Bexar County also played a significant role, facilitating the completion of the San Pedro Creek improvements project, which will create a park running alongside the site of the high-rise.

Internationally renowned landscape design firm GGN will design the grounds, green space, and hardscape surrounding the new development. Groundbreaking for the tower is planned for winter 2016 and construction is scheduled for completion in late 2018.

According to Western Urban’s CEO, the design represents a year of hard work by Pelli Clarke Pelli and GGN. “Our mission and purpose is to create authentic spaces in the urban core,” Smith said. “This is about helping to create the environs that our city needs to compete in the coming knowledge economy. Frost Tower will be a very visible piece of that effort.”

Courtesy rendering