A Houston-based developer cleared a major hurdle in its plan to convert a struggling office building into apartments in northwest San Antonio.
San Antonio City Council unanimously approved a zoning change last week allowing Woodbranch Management to redevelop one of two office properties at 8401 Datapoint Drive, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. The approval enables the firm to build 60 residential units per acre at Highpoint One, while Highpoint Two will stay office space. The site spans 13.5 acres, according to city documents. The planned number of units and construction costs haven’t been disclosed.
Woodbranch acquired the site in 2023 after the previous owner’s bankruptcy left Capital One searching for a buyer to recover $53 million in debts. Woodbranch ultimately secured the property as its ground lease owner.
City staff recommended denying the zoning change, but the Zoning Commission pushed it forward, as the council has shown willingness to be flexible in increasing housing density citywide.
The project will bring needed housing to the San Antonio Medical Center, said council member and mayoral candidate Manny Pelaez, whose district includes the site.
The council’s vote set development restrictions, capping new structures behind Highpoint One at six stories and limiting heights near neighboring condos to minimize impact.
A construction timeline hasn’t been disclosed.
State lawmakers are considering legislation that would toss rezoning requirements for commercial properties to be converted into housing. The proposal by Sen. Bryan Hughes would apply to municipalities within the 13 Texas counties that have populations exceeding 420,000, along with cities within those counties that have over 60,000 residents.
This project is one of a few office-to-residential developments planned in San Antonio. McCombs Enterprises, Ed Cross and Jon Wiegand are partnering with an adaptive reuse specialist,  Wisconsin-based J. Jeffers & Company, to redevelop the 31-story Tower Life building at 310 South St. Mary’s Street with 243 mixed-income apartments. The 95-year-old building, designed by Ayres & Ayres, will have retail space at the River Walk level.
The office-to-residential conversion trend has legs, especially in cities where demand for housing is rising and older office spaces are getting left behind. Developers increasingly view conversions as financially viable solutions to address the surplus of vacant office properties and the ongoing housing crisis, with nearly 71,000 units in the office-to-resi conversion pipeline nationwide. However, it’s not a silver bullet, as not all office buildings are suitable for conversion due to structural limitations and potential high costs of conversion.Â
—Rachel Stone
Read more
Lawmakers want to trigger resi conversions with zoning override
Trammell Crow adds historic heft to office-to-resi trend in Dallas
Here’s why Austin won’t see many office-to-resi conversionsÂ
