Weston Urban adds another building to its west downtown portfolio

Weston Urban has expanded its west downtown portfolio even more.

Two weeks ago, the developer purchased an old two-story commercial building on the northwest corner of Commerce and North Flores streets, currently home to a 7-Eleven, MetroPCS and VIA Metropolitan Transit. The company will “whip into shape” and lease a fourth retail space, Weston Urban President Randy Smith said.

The purchase adds to Weston Urban’s growing list of west downtown holdings, which include the Rand, Savoy and Milam buildings — the latter of which is undergoing a full renovation of all 21 stories.

In a complex agreement with the city of San Antonio and Frost Bank, the developer has purchased, or will eventually acquire, properties owned by the aforementioned entities. The most prominent is the Municipal Plaza building — which served as Frost Bank’s headquarters from 1922 to 1973 —  currently home to City Council chambers. Eventually, Weston Urban will own the upper floors and convert them into housing, while the city retains ownership of the chambers and other first-floor meeting spaces.

Under that agreement, Weston Urban has agreed to build 265 units on the properties it acquires in the deal.

A block north, Weston Urban, which is backed by Rackspace Hosting co-founder Graham Weston, is co-developing Frost Bank’s glassy new, 23-story tower.

For the company, its most recent purchase, which it acquired from an entity called 107 N Flores SA Ltd, means adding another piece to the puzzle of repopulating west downtown.

The plan is to renovate the upper floor — 10,000 square feet — into office space and lease it to what will likely be a single tenant, said Smith, who declined to give the purchase price. The search for that tenant hasn’t started, but they’ll move fast, he said, with a move-in date by the second half of 2019.

“There was just this thing that nobody ever loved, and we’re just a sucker for those things,” Smith said.

The current tenants have “plenty of time left in the building,” Smith said. He added, “The folks that are in there are going to stay, and we’ll just add more to the mix.”

Contact Ben Olivo: 210-421-3932 | ben@saheron.com | @rbolivo on Twitter