A federal office building’s listing in downtown San Antonio created an opening for city officials to advance their vision for a major new sports and entertainment district.
The plans offer a hopeful glimpse of what could become of dozens of federal properties recently marked for disposition nationwide.
The 163,060-square-foot building at 727 East César E. Chávez Boulevard is one of eight properties nationwide the U.S. General Services Administration has listed for “accelerated disposition,” the San Antonio Express-News reported.
The 1974 building has housed agencies like the Social Security Administration, Federal Bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and sits within Hemisfair, a former World’s Fair site that’s become central to the city’s long-term development plans.
San Antonio officials have long expressed interest in acquiring the building and nearby federally owned parking lots, which would give it greater control over land tied to Project Marvel, its redevelopment plan featuring a new San Antonio Spurs arena that could run the city as much as $4 billion. Officials did not disclose the status of negotiations for the building, or whether any are occurring.
Project Marvel also calls for an expanded convention center, renovated Alamodome, second convention hotel and surrounding retail, residential and park space. Officials plan to create a land bridge over Interstate 37 to better connect the campus to the rest of the city.
Agencies currently housed in the building may not need to move, the GSA said. A sale-leaseback is possible, depending on a new owner’s plans.
GSA has been refining a broader list of over 400 federal properties initially marked for sale, narrowing it based on maintenance costs, vacancy and availability of replacement space. No details have been released on the San Antonio building’s condition or current occupancy rate.
In 2022, the city acquired two other federal properties nearby — the John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse and the Adrian A. Spears Judicial Training Center — through a long-planned land swap.
The city also still holds an exclusive option to lease or buy the Institute of Texan Cultures site at 801 East César E Chávez Boulevard, where the new arena would be located.
— Judah Duke
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