Downtown San Antonio’s office market may be in for a lift as Project Marvel — the planned $4 billion redevelopment anchored by a Spurs basketball arena and entertainment district — gains traction.
With central business district office vacancies hovering near 27 percent, according to CBRE, brokers said the buzz around Marvel is sparking fresh conversations with tenants, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. While departures from heavyweights like USAA, Visionworks and PricewaterhouseCoopers left a glut of space, inquiries are picking up.
Amegy Bank’s recent 44,000-square-foot lease at 300 Convent was one of the few notable wins, but brokers say smaller deals in the 5,000- to 20,000-square-foot range could follow if momentum builds.
Joe Bright, senior vice president at Partners Real Estate, told the outlet that more corporate tenants are requesting tours and surveys downtown, even if many stop short of signing.
“It seems like there’s still a little bit of a hangup in the execution,” he said, pointing to parking and traffic perceptions as persistent hurdles. Bright believes tangible progress on Marvel construction will be the tipping point: “Once you start to see dirt moving … then it’ll switch.”
On the investment side, John Taylor, CBRE’s senior vice president in San Antonio, said downtown is starting to look more attractive to buyers hunting for a bargain.
“I’ve actually received questions from a handful of clients saying, ‘Where are some really nice quality buildings for reasonable or aggressive economics right now?’” Taylor said, adding that the answer increasingly points downtown.
The projects’ potential aligns with a broader trend of repositioning central business districts into mixed-use neighborhoods rather than strictly office corridors. But with leasing demand still fragile and execution risk high, it’s unclear whether Project Marvel’s momentum can bridge San Antonio’s vacancy gap.
If the buzz translates into leases, downtown could shift to a growth story. But for now, the market is watching and waiting for cranes to rise in the skyline.
The county’s funding piece for Project Marvel was sent to voters to decide this November by the Bexar County Commissioners Court in August, and while the San Antonio City Council voted recently to continue negotiations with Spurs Sports and Entertainment on a term sheet, it is unclear if Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones will continue to push back on the development. — Eric Weilbacher
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