Holiday Inn Riverwalk Ready for Tourists After Undergoing $13M Renovation

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

InterContinental Hotels Group PLC has just completed a $13 million makeover of its Holiday Inn San Antonio Riverwalk. The hotel near the River Walk underwent a full renovation.

The two-story lobby now features a more open and modern feel, Anthony Johnson, regional director of operations & the general manager of the property, told the San Antonio Business Journal.

Additionally, the hotel now features new bathrooms with upscale fixtures, an integrated contemporary design, stainless steel and opaque glass in the décor, as well as hardwood floors in all of the more than 300 rooms and suites, according to the property’s Web site. “Every element of this hotel was revamped,” Johnson added.

Included in the renovation project is a new restaurant, called the Windows On The River Restaurants, which offers spectacular views of the iconic River Walk.

Meanwhile, San Antonio-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas plans to open its first Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in New Braunfels, with franchise partner Reel Dinner Partners. The company, which currently operates three theaters in the Alamo City, is expected to invest about $3 million in its fourth property, which will be called Alamo Drafthouse New Braunfels Marketplace.

According to an official company statement, the 35,311-square-foot MarketPlace 12 Theater will be transformed into a state-of-the-art location with 11 screens and the only dine-in movie theater in New Braunfels. The new location will also feature a lounge – Glass Half Full – with an extensive menu of beers, wine and food.

Photo credits: Holiday Inn San Antonio Riverwalk Hotel

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Walmart to Hire 275 People at Northeast Supercenter

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Walmart Stores Inc. is looking to hire about 275 full- and part-time employees at its new Supercenter, along Binz-Engleman and Foster Road, which is expected to open this spring.

The Northeast project is one of the four that the Bentonville, Ark.-based company is currently developing in the Alamo City. The four new stores, which will open in phases throughout this year and 2014, will create approximately 1,200 new jobs. “We are excited to add a new Walmart to San Antonio and bring good jobs with great career opportunities to the area,” said Michael Weder, store manager for the Foster Road Supercenter, as quoted by the San Antonio Business Journal.

The other Walmart Supercenters set to open this year are located at:

• Leslie and Bandera roads, just northwest of San Antonio in Helotes;
• The intersection of Woodlawn and Bandera, on the West Side;
• Thousand Oaks Drive and Nacogdoches Road, on the Northeast Side.

In 2014, the company will open a new Supercenter at Wurzbach Parkway and Blanco Road.

Meanwhile, H.E. Butt Grocery Co. is building a new 96,000-square-foot store in the Rio Grande Valley community of Palmhurst. The company expects to open the store in late fall, according to The Monitor.

The H-E-B store will be located at the corner of Highway 107 and Three Mile Line, across the street from the Walmart store, which opened in 2005 and has been attracting other smaller retailers and hospitality businesses in the area.

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Two San Antonio Apartment Communities Change Hands

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

The San Antonio apartment market is attracting investors, as evidenced by two important multifamily properties changing hands recently.

Sierra Ridge Apartments

Sierra Ridge, a 230-unit apartment community on the city’s North Central Side, gained a new owner on Feb. 14: Omaha-based Metonic Real Estate Services, which purchased the gated community on behalf of investors. The property, which was 94 percent occupied at the time of the sale, features an updated clubhouse with a business center and a fitness center. Outdoor amenities include a lighted tennis court, a sport court and a two-tiered pool with sundeck.

According to the San Antonio Business Journal, the new owners plan to upgrade the 30-year-old complex, focusing mainly on extensive interior improvements.

“The San Antonio market boasts excellent fundamentals,” said Bob Dean, president of Seldin Co., told the San Antonio Business Journal. Seldin Co. is in charge of  management duties at the complex.

View at Encino Commons Apartments

Meanwhile, another investor entered the San Antonio market in February, when McCann Realty Partners L.L.C. acquired the View at Encino Commons Apartments, a 324-home, garden-style community. Built in 2001, the multifamily property includes amenities such as an elegant clubhouse with a fitness center, a resort-style swimming pool and a movie theater. Pegasus Residential L.L.C. was selected as the complex’s manager.

“We have been targeting the San Antonio market for quite some time due to its dynamic job growth prospects and strong business climate. McCann plans to do a modest interior and amenity upgrade to the property,” said McCann’s chief investment officer, Brand Inlow, in a statement.

Inlow expects to see growing rents in the Alamo City over the next several years, a reason why the company is actively looking to add more apartments in the city.

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146-Room Boutique Hotel Planned for Pearl

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

The Pearl development will gain a new boutique hotel next year, as Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants was selected to operate a 146-room project on the former brewery site.

According to the San Antonio Business Journal, the four-star hotel will be located in a 119-year-old structure that used to house the brewhouse. Slated to open in the fall of 2014, the San Antonio hotel will be Kimpton’s third in Texas, with two others in Dallas.

Woodbine Development Corp. was already selected to develop the project, which will be designed by Roman and Williams.

The boutique hotel will include two new restaurants, a roof-top pool, venue space facing the San Antonio River and a cocktail bar. A new six-story tower behind the original brewhouse will house the hotel rooms.

“San Antonio is emerging as a hot destination for culinary travel, and Kimpton has a great reputation for chef-driven restaurants,” Elizabeth Fauerso, chief marketing officer at Pearl, told the San Antonio publication.

Pearl is a 22-acre urban neighborhood two miles from the center of downtown and adjacent to the northern Riverwalk. Plans call for additional residential and commercial projects, including the Cellars and Bottling House, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Once these projects are complete, the original Pearl campus will be entirely developed.

Image credits: atpearl.com/real_estate

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Brookhollow Park Office Building Changes Hands

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

The San Antonio office of Transwestern has recently brokered the sale of Brookhollow Park – a 102,466-square-foot Class A office building. Located in the North Central submarket of San Antonio, the multi-tenant building is currently 100 percent leased.

Built in 1999, the four-story property is considered to be a solid asset for investors, providing above-average returns. Due to its established investment-grade tenant base and location, Brookhollow Park represents a low-risk investment. The city’s North Central submarket has been recording vacancy rates that historically trend below the San Antonio city-wide average.

“Investors recognize the value in stable Class A office investments,” said Alan Grilliette, managing director with Transwestern, who teamed up with Hale Umstattd and Leah Gallagher to represent the seller in this transaction, Grosvenor International. The buyer was not disclosed.

The downtown office market had a tough 2012, ending the year with 333,000 square feet of negative absorption. Moreover, its vacancy now stands at more than 30 percent, according to the San Antonio Business Journal.

Still, the future looks bright for the downtown submarket; according to Gallagher, 2013 will mark a larger volume of office deals in the Alamo City due to three main factors: its proximity to the Eagle Ford Shale, the bilingual workforce and the fact that investors are turning their attention to secondary markets like San Antonio as prices for office properties in the larger core markets have risen above what many buyers are willing or able to pay, the business journal reported.

Photo credits: Grosvenor International

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Gold’s Gym Adds Two New Facilities in Alamo City

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Gold’s Gym International continues to add new fitness facilities in growing San Antonio areas. The company recently announced plans to open two new gyms, totaling 103,000 square feet of space, adding to the 20 locations it already operates in the Alamo City.

The Venice, Calif.-based firm broke ground on a 54,000-square-foot facility at the Legacy Trails shopping center late last year and expects to open it for business later this summer. The gym will feature more than 15,000 square feet of outdoor space, including a lap and wellness pool and a basketball court.

The second facility, which the company expects to open for business at the beginning of the next year, will be located at the southeast corner of Loop 1604 and Culebra, also on the far West Side, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. The 49,000-square-foot Culebra location will also feature premium outdoor exercise space, including a 5,500-square-foot swimming pool, according to a company statement. Construction will start early this summer.

“We are very bullish on San Antonio,” said Jim Snow, president of Gold’s Gym International. “We look forward to growing with the San Antonio community for years to come.”

A year ago, GGI acquired 11 Spectrum Athletic Club locations in the San Antonio area, which quickly became the biggest market in its corporate portfolio and the second biggest Gold’s Gym market in the country, behind Washington, D.C.

Photo courtesy of: www.facebook.com/goldsgym

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Phase One of $100M Solar Project Breaks Ground in San Antonio

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

OCI Solar Power is in the process of developing Alamo I, the first phase of a $100 million major solar project in San Antonio. Phase I of this project will have a capacity of 41 megawatts and is expected to be complete by mid-2013.

In late December 2012, OCI Solar Power announced the signing of an engineering, procurement and construction agreement with Renewable Energy Systems Americas Inc. (RES Americas) for the Alamo I project.

“The development of Alamo I is an exciting and highly anticipated project,” said Tony Dorazio, president of OCI. “Its long-term impact on the area – boosting the economy and creating jobs – reinforces our commitment to form valuable and trusted relationships with the communities we serve.”

Once all phases of the project are complete, the solar development is expected to create more than 800 permanent jobs, according to an official statement by the developer. In the summer of 2012, OCI signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with CPS Energy to build 400 megawatts of photovoltaic plants in and around San Antonio, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

The $100 million project will provide enough electricity for nearly 70,000 local households, or about 10 percent of San Antonio’s customers. Developers expect it to reach its full capacity by 2016.

According to CPS CEO Doyle Beneby, the project will put Texas among the top five states for photovoltaic capacity in the United States.

Photo courtesy of RES Americas.

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Dave & Buster’s to invest $15M in SA Venue

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Dallas-based Dave & Buster’s announced plans for a new dining, arcade and entertainment venue at Rivercenter Mall, in downtown Alamo City. The new Dave & Buster’s will be located in the former Joske’s building and should be open in the summer of 2014.

The company plans to invest $15 million in a 33,000-square-foot venue, part of a larger redevelopment of the downtown shopping center that opened its doors in 1988, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. The location is a “dynamic tourist destination” and attracts a large number of visitors, according to the company.

REATA Real Estate handles leasing for the mall. According to its Web site, the mall is currently undergoing Phase I of the redevelopment project, which includes the addition of as many as five restaurants off Commerce Street. Moreover, the master plan includes the addition of at least one hotel anchor, along with space for retail, entertainment and restaurants, as well as a rebranding to “The Shops at Rivercenter.”

Rivercenter Mall is owned by New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisitions Corp., which bought the property in 2005.

Dave & Buster’s, which owns about 60 dining-and-arcade locations, recently unveiled a new flagship in Dallas that is considered to be a model venue for future locations. The Dallas flagship store is 44,000 square feet, featuring 170 different games, a full restaurant, a towering bar and large TV screens to watch sports, according to the Dallas Business Journal.

Rendering of the Rivercenter Mall courtesy of REATA Real Estate.

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Éilan Development Sells to Lone Star Funds as Part of $720M Deal

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Netherlands-based Wereldhave recently announced the decision to sell its entire U.S. portfolio to Lone Star Funds, a Dallas-based private equity firm.

Back in May 2012, the San Antonio Express-News reported that the owner of the Éilan mixed-use project wanted to focus on development in Western Europe, resulting in its decision to sell its U.S. properties. Wereldhave expects to close the deal with Lone Star Funds in the first quarter of 2013.

According to its Web site, the Dutch company owned 19 developments in the country, in cities like San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, Washington and San Diego. About 90 percent of its portfolio consists of office space.

The upscale San Antonio development, appraised at $169.3 million in 2012 by the Bexar Appraisal District, is the largest property owned by the European developer in the U.S. Wereldhave purchased the 120-acre property in 2005 for $18.5 million, according to the San Antonio publication, and began to develop it in 2007.

The first phase of the project, located near Loop 1604 and Interstate 10, includes 500 apartments, a hotel with 165 rooms, two office buildings and a retail component.

Lone Star Funds buys financially distressed assets to restructure and sell for profit. Apart from the deal with the Dutch company, Lone Star agreed to buy commercial properties from the German government valued at about 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion), according to Bloomberg.

Photo rendering of the Éilan Hotel Resort and Spa

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Hyatt Hill Country Undergoes $35M Renovation

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Woodbine Development Corp. recently unveiled interesting details regarding the $35 million renovation and expansion of its Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio.

“While much of what this resort offers is about tradition, we want to reward our loyal guests with new experiences and capture group customers who needed more function space than we were able to provide in the past,” said John Field Scovell, CEO & president of Woodbine.

According to an official statement, the transformation includes:

• Updating all 500 guestrooms to include amenities like a Hyatt Grand Bed mattress and an oversize granite-top vanity in the bathroom.
• Doubling the indoor function space from 35,000 square feet to about 70,000  with the addition of a 20,000-square-foot ballroom and 12,000 square feet of outdoor garden event spaces.
• Replacing the existing plants and trees with plants that are native to the Lone Star State. The final enhancements to the resort will also include extensive exterior landscaping and energy-efficient LED lighting.
• Adding a wave machine and tower slide to the resort’s water playground, which will be expanded from four acres to five. Plus, the Hyatt will also boast a 22-foot-tall tower slide.

The renovation project will be completed in two phases: The guestrooms renovation project will be in progress through March 2, 2013, while the ballroom and meeting space expansion will be complete by September 2013.

Apart from Woodbine, which is managing the project, the team also includes HKS Hill Glazier Studio, the architect of record; Hardin Construction Co. as general contractor; WATG and Wimberly Interiors providing interior design services.

Photos courtesy of Woodbine Development Corp.

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Ashley Oaks Apartments Changes Hands in $30.8M Deal

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Steadfast Income REIT Inc. made its third acquisition in Texas on Nov. 29, with the purchase of Ashley Oaks in North Central San Antonio. The 462-unit garden-style apartment community was sold for $30.8 million.

Ashley Oaks has several amenities, including three swimming pools and a spa, a fitness center, picnic areas with barbecues, a media room and a business center. Built in three phases, in 1985 and 1995, the multifamily property is currently 93 percent occupied.

The San Antonio community was part of a $68 million round of buys that also included the Arrowhead Apartments and The Moorings for a combined $37 million, according to a company news release. “We think these assets are consistent with our focus on acquiring established apartments in locations that present strong opportunity for rent growth and value appreciation,” said Ella Neyland, president of Steadfast.

• Arrowhead Apartments is a 200‐unit apartment community located in Palatine, III., a Chicago suburb. The property is 98 percent occupied.
• The Moorings Apartments is located 10 miles south of Arrowhead and consists of 216 units. The community is 99 percent occupied.

With these latest acquisitions, Steadfast has acquired 24 properties with more than 5,200 apartment units in nine Midwestern and Southern states for a total of $415 million.

Photo rendering of Ashley Oaks, courtesy of Steadfast Income REIT

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Alamo Colleges opens work training building at Port San Antonio

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Alamo Colleges has opened a new Workforce Center of Excellence in South San Antonio, through an agreement with Port San Antonio.

According to the agreement, Port San Antonio donated the building and almost 30 acres of land, next to the port’s East Kelly Railport to the Alamo Colleges, reported the San Antonio Express-News. In return, Alamo Colleges will provide specialized training to present and future aerospace industry workers at Port San Antonio.

The new high-tech center features technology-enhanced classrooms, a conference center with seven 70-inch LCD screens, six computer labs, each with 24 workstations, lifesized videoconferencing capability, giant touch-screen tablets for presentations and videoconferencing, noted Alamo Colleges in an official statement.

The 40,000-square-foot building also houses the Alamo Colleges’ Small Business Incubator/Mentor-Protégé program. Up to 10,000 square feet of space at the new center has been designated for startup companies identified by the City of San Antonio.

“This facility will benefit the residents and industries of the Alamo Region and City of San Antonio, especially Port San Antonio tenants, by ensuring that Port San Antonio employers have access to a pool of skilled technicians to meet their expansion and retirement workforce targets,” said Wayne Alexander, board chair of Port San Antonio.

There are currently 14 aerospace-related tenants at Port San Antonio that collectively employ 5,000 workers adds the San Antonio Business Journal.

Photo credits: Alamo Colleges

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Live Oak-Gottesman Continues Office Shopping Spree, Buys Network Crossing

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Austin-based Live Oak-Gottesman has bought Network Crossing, a 143,831-square-foot office property spanning five buildings in Northwest San Antonio.

The acquisition marks the sixth purchase for the company and this is not all. According to Rob Golding, CEO of Live Oak-Gottesman, the company has already prepared for a next round of acquisitions in 2013, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. managing director Mona Carlton and associate director Robert Wooten represented the buyer. At the time of the sale, the property was 89 percent occupied, reported Citybizlist.com.

Located near the intersection of Huebner Road and Interstate 10, the office property was developed by Transwestern San Antonio and opened in September 2008. Interestingly enough, the latest acquisition in the Alamo City does not fit into the company’s strategy, as its local portfolio consists of value-add buildings in the core of North Central San Antonio.

Just six months ago, Live Oak Gottesman purchased Centre Plaza, a 138,265-square-foot office building located along Loop 410 in North Central San Antonio, according to the company’s Web site. Other San Antonio office properties include:

• Alta Vista – a 53,008-square-foot retail/office center located in the heart of Stone Oak;
• 922 Isom – a one-story office building totaling 25,643 square feet located in North Central San Antonio;
• One Village Park – a 48,393-square-foot office property located on San Pedro Avenue;
• Park Oaks Centre – a 66,265-square-foot office building also located on San Pedro Avenue .

Photo rendering of Network Crossing

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NuStar Energy to Sell Local Refinery

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

As part of a strategic shift to focus on more stable operations, NuStar Energy L.P. plans to sell its San Antonio refinery while boosting its investment in Eagle Ford Shale. The company announced the intention of buying a crude oil pipeline and related assets, along with natural gas liquid assets, for $425 million. The seller is TexStar Midstream Services L.P.

The refinery sale will contribute to the payment of debt and current expansion projects, NuStar CEO Curt Anastasio told the San Antonio Express-News. The refinery on South Presa Street, which produces 14,500 barrels a day, was bought out of bankruptcy in April 2011 for $41 million. Since then, the company has invested about $49 million in improvements.

Along with the refinery, NuStar will sell a terminal in Elmendorf and a pipeline that connects the terminal to the plant.

NuStar was the first company to move Eagle Ford crude by pipeline and a key player and investor in the area, operating a broad network of pipelines and a large terminal in Corpus Christi’s North Beach. Caller.com notes that the $425 million investment includes a 140-mile pipeline system with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day stretching from La Salle and Frio counties to Live Oak County, and five storage terminals with combined capacity of 643,000 barrels.

NuStar expects to close the purchase of the crude oil assets in early December, while the acquisition of the natural gas assets should be completed in the first quarter of 2013.

Photo courtesy of NuStar Energy L.P.

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Transwestern Tapped to Lease, Manage Texas Center for Athletes

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Transwestern’s San Antonio office has been hired to provide leasing and management services for the Texas Center for Athletes, according to a company news release.

Transwestern managing directors Russell Noll and Alan Grilliette, senior vice president Ken Adams and property manager Kathy Nielsen have been awarded the assignment for the property. The leasing team includes Amber Austin and Licia Shreves.

This contract brings the company’s San Antonio healthcare portfolio to more than 1.6 million square feet.

The Texas Center for Athletes is a Class A, four-story, state-of-the-art medical office building totaling 128,347 square feet and located at 21 Spurs Lane in the South Texas Medical Center. It comprises a surgery center, various medical specialties, a pharmacy and a therapeutic spa. Other tenants include South Texas Radiology, the Hand Center of San Antonio, Texas Plastic Surgery, The Ear Medical Group and Global Sleep Technologies, according to the San Antonio Business Journal.

Meanwhile, the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio announced the groundbreaking of a new Center for Oral Health Care & Research. According to the San Antonio Business Journal, the facility will cost $95 million to build and will serve as the new classroom and research facility for the Health Science Center’s Dental School.

Photo courtesy of The Center for Special Surgery

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Bluerock Sells 269-Unit Stratford Community

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Bluerock Real Estate L.L.C. announced the sale of The Stratford apartments, a 269-unit multifamily community in Northwest San Antonio. The company purchased the property in December 2008, in a joint venture with The Lynd Co.

Lynd Co., the 34th largest apartment manager in the United States, managed the property on behalf of the partnership.

Originally developed in 1982, the apartment community is 95.5 percent occupied, according to a property presentation by CBRE Global Inc., which offered the property for sale. Comprising 19 two- and three-story residential buildings and a leasing and fitness center, The Stratford has 93 unique one-, two- and three-bedroom townhome units.

Custom features in the homes include fully equipped kitchens with natural wood cabinetry, serving bars and separate dining rooms, wood-burning fireplaces, wet bars, track lighting, brushed chrome hardware, full-size washer/dryer connections, large walk-in closets, patios and balconies with outside storage, as well as private front-door entries.

According to Citybizlist.com, rents at The Startford range from $590 to $1,135 per month.

CBRE reports that apartment home occupancy in the Northwest San Antonio submarket in the first quarter of 2012 was 92.7 percent. The company adds that there are approximately 580 units of new conventional multifamily scheduled to deliver in the Northwest submarket over the next year.

Bluerock Real Estate is a national real estate investment firm headquartered in Manhattan, which focuses on acquiring, managing and developing stabilized, value-added and opportunistic multifamily and office properties throughout the United States. The company has transacted more than 30 million square feet and $6 billion in acquisitions.

Photo courtesy of CBRE

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Scott Felder Homes Selected as Builder for Havenwood Community

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Austin-based Scott Felder Homes will serve as the recommended builder for the Havenwood community, following a strategic relationship with SouthStar Communities, a residential real estate development company and owner of the master-planned community located in New Braunfels.

The award-winning builder has already purchased 37 lots in Havenwood at Hunters Crossing and has plans to construct a model home, according to a SouthStar Communities news release. The ranch-style, single-story model home features four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, a fireplace, an outdoor living area and a three-car side-load garage.

Havenwood at Hunters Crossing, located about 30 miles northeast of San Antonio, is a gated community. It includes amenities like a three-pool swimming complex, multiple sports courts and a nature trail for walking, hiking and jogging, as well as a private park.

SouthStar Communities adds that the homebuilder’s Montana floor plan has been awarded the Star Award for Best Product Design by the Texas Association of Builders.

With more than 30 years of experience in home design and construction throughout Central Texas, Scott Felder, owner & founder of the firm, asserts that “joining Havenwood at Hunters Crossing was appealing because the community is well established and includes impressive amenities.”

SouthStar Communities is a residential real estate development company with master-planned properties throughout the South. In New Braunfels, SouthStar Communities also developed Vintage Oaks, a community offering a pool, lazy river, outdoor kitchen and expansive meeting and party space—all within an incredible Tuscan-style arched stone structure. Since 1999, the company has developed 20 communities throughout Florida, Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.

Photo rendering of Vintage Oaks community, courtesy of www.vintageoakstexas.com

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San Antonio to Welcome TRISUN Healthcare Assisted-Living Center

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

A new TRISUN Healthcare assisted-living and memory-care facility will be built in San Antonio, next to the TRISUN Care Center at Lakeside, which opened this summer.

Three companies are teaming up to build the project: Dallas-based MedProperties Holdings L.L.C. and Suntex Development L.L.C. will jointly develop the facility, while TRISUN Healthcare will operate and manage it, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. Once completed, the center will be owned by MedProperties and Suntex.

The 53,313-square-foot complex will have 42 assisted-living and 18 memory-care units. Designed by Austin-based DFD Architects and built by San Antonio-based Metropolitan Contracting Co., it will sit on 5.2 acres of land near Loop 410 and State Highway 151.

The developers worked with the same design-build team for the TRISUN Care Center Lakeside, which opened in August 2012 in Northeast San Antonio. The facility consists of 42,000 square feet of space, with 120 skilled-nursing and rehab beds.

According to its Web site, TRISUN Healthcare operates a total of four skilled-nursing facilities in San Antonio alone, including:

• Mesa Vista Inn Health Center: a 144-bed facility located at 5756 N. Knoll Drive;
• TRISUN Care Center Windcrest: a 188-bed facility located at 8800 Fourwinds Drive;
• TRISUN Care Center Wurzbach: a 140-bed facility located at 8300 Wurzbach Road;
• Trisun Care Center Lakeside: a 120-bed facility located at 8707 Lakeside Pkwy.

 Photo rendering of Mesa Vista Inn Health Center, courtesy of TRISUN Healthcare.

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Aragon Adds M-F Property to Growing San Antonio Portfolio

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

California-based Aragon Holdings has purchased a 228-unit Class B property in North Central San Antonio. The Carmel at Deerfield apartment complex brings the real estate investment fund’s portfolio to  six apartment complexes and a total of 1,248 units in the Alamo City.

Apart from the Carmel property, the company’s San Antonio portfolio also includes:

• Las Brisas Apartments – 176 units
• The Lexington Apartments – 72 units
• Timbermill Apartments – 296 units
• Windridge Apartments – 276 units
• Regatta – 200 units

Carmel at Deerfield, constructed in 1985, is currently 99 percent occupied. Amenities of the garden-style community include a fitness center, tennis court, basketball court, swimming pool and spa, business center and clubhouse. Apartments feature private patios or balconies, large walk-in closets, well-appointed kitchens, ceramic-tiled bathrooms, wiring for intrusion alarms, and fireplaces and built-in bookshelves in some units.

Several of San Antonio’s largest employers are located within eight miles of the subject property, including USAA, The South Texas Medical Center and Valero’s world headquarters.

The acquisition also marks the fund’s 16th purchase nationwide in the past four years, a total of more than 4,000 apartment units, according to a company news release. In the past six months alone, the company spent over $100 million on multi-family assets.

Aragon Holdings will continue to expand its portfolio with the acquisition of multi-family properties in cities that have positive job and population growth, said Larry Clark, president of Aragon Holdings, in a news release.

According to a recent Marcus & Millichap report on San Antonio’s apartment market, investors are attracted by the city’s multifamily properties due to their comparatively attractive returns. Due to limited construction last year, large investors are targeting 1990s to early-2000s product. Additionally, transaction velocity rose more than 10 percent over the past 12 months, driven by stronger sales in the 100- to 200-unit and 300-plus-unit segments.

Photo courtesy of Aragon Holdings

Chart courtesy of Marcus & Millichap

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Nationwide Insurance Opens Fortified for Safer Business Campus

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

Nationwide Insurance officially opened its new campus in Westover Hills, making it the first-ever FORTIFIED for Safer Business campus in the United States. The 280,000-square-foot sales and operations center was built to the Institute for Business and Home Safety’s disaster-resistance standards, meaning it is able to withstand disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires and windstorms.

Additionally, the facility achieved a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification, meeting LEED standards for water and electricity usage, waste management, tree preservation, use of natural light and ergonomic design of work spaces, according to the San Antonio Business Journal.

The facility is already home to nearly 1,500 Nationwide workers, and will be able to house 500 more employees, for which the company is currently hiring, according to a company press release. Employees will be able to enjoy an on-site high-tech café, providing a variety of fast and casual restaurant options, as well as health services, a fitness center, an outdoor sports court and landscaped courtyards with walking paths.

Meanwhile, CyrusOne opened its newest, 80,000-square-foot facility in San Antonio, the first enterprise-class multi-tenant data center in the Alamo City. The location was mainly chosen because of the city’s low-cost power and relatively disaster-free geography, according to Gary Wojtaszek, president of CyrusOne.

According to an official statement by the data center provider, the new facility  protects customers’ IT equipment by providing military-grade security, reliable power and connectivity in the raised-floor areas where equipment is housed and in the Class A office space.

Of the company’s 17 U.S. data centers, 10 are located in Texas, with four in Dallas, three in Houston, two in Austin and the newest one in San Antonio.

Photo rendering of Houston West Data Center, courtesy of CyrusOne

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