Top 5 Office Developments in San Antonio

San Antonio’s office market has shown steady—if not speedy—growth in the past year. As new jobs continue to trickle in, demand for high-end, amenitized space has outpaced the city’s dormant stock. Developers have taken note, with roughly 2.1 million square feet of office projects underway as of May.

Nowhere is this more visible than in downtown San Antonio, where the last major delivery occurred in 1989. Now, a revolution is building—a number of ground-up developments and renovation projects are rapidly moving forward, with more than 60 percent of the metro’s office construction activity concentrated in the urban core.

The following table uses data from Yardi Matrix to highlight the top 10 office developments underway in San Antonio as of May.

5. The Soto

The Soto development site. Image via Google Earth

In August 2018, a joint venture between Hixon Properties and Cavender Brothers Management broke ground on The Soto, a 140,600-square-foot Class A speculative office development in central San Antonio. Texas Capital Bank provided the developers with construction financing. Upon completion in early 2020, The mass-timber property—Texas’ first—is taking shape at 711 Broadway St. Completion of the facility is eyed for next year. 

The building will also feature approximately 10,000 square feet of street level retail in addition to a subterranean parking garage. BOKA Powell and Lake|Flato designed the property to achieve LEED certification. Byrne Construction is the general contractor for the office structure, and JLL’s Chuck King and Alcide Longoria are heading up leasing efforts.

4. The Light

The Light. Image courtesy of Transwestern

The fourth largest office development in San Antonio is The Light, planned to offer 148,347 square feet upon completion near the end of 2019. GrayStreet Partners began work on the project, an adaptive reuse of a former newspaper headquarters, in January 2018. The developer secured financing with two construction loans totaling $35.3 million from Frost Bank and Broadway National Bank. The property was designed to meet LEED Gold standards.

Located downtown on 2.2 acres at 420 Broadway St., the development is made up of a three- and a five-story building linked by an elevator lobby. Architecture firm Ford, Powell & Carson, along with CaptureRx, have signed leases for the first two floors. GrayStreet has tasked Brad Kaufman and Larry Mendez with Transwestern with the marketing of the remaining space.

3. Oxbow – Credit Human Headquarters

Oxbow’s development site. Image via Google Earth

The largest office property under construction outside the market’s core, Credit Human’s 203,224-square-foot Class A headquarters is one of two towers underway in the larger Oxbow project in East San Antonio. The building is anticipated to deliver in early 2020.

The developer, a joint venture between Credit Human and Silver Ventures, broke ground on the site in February 2018 and is simultaneously working on the second tower. Credit Human will assume sole ownership of its headquarters once delivered, with Silver Ventures retaining the smaller asset. Bank of America has leased most of the other building, with CBRE marketing the remaining available 40,000 square feet.

2. CPS Energy Headquarters

CPS Energy Headquarters. Image courtesy of CPS Energy

CPS Energy is currently working to completely renovate AT&T’s former regional offices, located downtown at 530 McCullough Ave. The electric and natural gas utility company will, upon the asset’s completion in mid-2020, move its operations to the 433,431-square-foot property from its current 1928-built headquarters at 145 Navarro St. along the River Walk.

Demolition work on CPS’ future headquarters began in early 2017, with construction kicking off in May the following year. General contractor Sundt Construction is working to expand and alter the property, increasing the floor space, replacing the former brick cladding with glass and adding a number of sustainable features. The project is targeting LEED Gold certification.

1. Frost Tower

Frost Tower. Image courtesy of Weston Urban

San Antonio’s largest office development underway is also its nearest to completion, with an expected delivery in June. Clark Construction began work on Weston Urban’s 462,054-square-foot Frost Tower in the first half of 2017, financed by a $141 million construction loan from its anchor tenant, Frost Bank. Once finished, the building will be the first major office completion in the city center since the Weston Centre opened its doors in 1989.

The structure, designed by Pelli Clark Pelli to achieve LEED Silver standards, rises 24 stories at 111 W. Houston St. Along with the office space on the upper floors, the building will feature 20,492 square feet of street retail and structured parking in the base. In addition to Frost Bank, which signed for 280,000 square feet, the property’s future tenants include Ernst & Young and Norton Rose Fulbright.

The article was updated June 21 to include additional details of the Oxbow developments based on information provided by CBRE and Credit Human.