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-   -   SAN ANTONIO │ CPS Headquarters Redevelopment Thread | U/C (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=208843)

sirkingwilliam May 20, 2013 4:00 PM

SAN ANTONIO │ CPS Headquarters Redevelopment Thread | U/C
 
The story is behind a paywall, but here's the quote pertaining to the skyline.

Quote:

In a more formal RFP, Beneby said CPS would likely accept proposals from developers to build a new CPS headquarters downtown and maybe lease it to the utility — in addition to potential property swaps.

As always, the hurdles for a new building would be the high cost of downtown construction and lining up adequate parking.

Nevertheless, Beneby said he wants to consider “the best opportunity for the skyline of San Antonio.”
http://www.expressnews.com/business/...le-4528587.php

jaga185 May 20, 2013 11:55 PM

*dead*

UrbanTrance May 21, 2013 12:22 AM

This needs to happen.:yes:

stuntpuller May 21, 2013 12:51 AM

I can see this happening.

sirkingwilliam May 21, 2013 2:51 AM

I'm hearing the city, including CPS, want it to be in the 600-700 ft range. There are whispers this could go near the Weston with Graham building residential next to or very near it.

Exciting times ahead my friends.

jaga185 May 21, 2013 2:57 AM

600-700ft?! That'd be amazing! I hope it's closer to 700. I hope the design is bad.

Formus May 21, 2013 2:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaga185 (Post 6135368)
600-700ft?! That'd be amazing! I hope it's closer to 700. I hope the design is bad.

Care to elaborate on that?

cole world11 May 21, 2013 4:43 PM

As much as I'd love to see this actually get built, I'll believe it when I see it. I'm not getting my hopes up too high

jaga185 May 21, 2013 6:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Formus (Post 6135697)
Care to elaborate on that?


Oh gosh. Got too excited, I meant ISN'T*

WorldTexas May 21, 2013 7:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaga185 (Post 6135368)
600-700ft?! That'd be amazing! I hope it's closer to 700.

Is the idea for a mixed-use building with residential or hotel space in it? A 600 foot tower is a lot of space to dump in a downtown office market with a 30% vacancy rate.

I'd love to see it happen, but we have a lot of work to do to on those Geekdom startups to fill that much space.

Formus May 21, 2013 7:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaga185 (Post 6136044)
Oh gosh. Got too excited, I meant ISN'T*

Haha, I knew I was missing something.

I see the location is rumored to be near the Weston Center; does anyone have any guesses as to where, specifically, this building will end up? I know it's too early to know anything, but it's fun to speculate.

jaga185 May 21, 2013 7:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WorldTexas (Post 6136096)
Is the idea for a mixed-use building with residential or hotel space in it? A 600 foot tower is a lot of space to dump in a downtown office market with a 30% vacancy rate.

I'd love to see it happen, but we have a lot of work to do to on those Geekdom startups to fill that much space.

That's true. I forgot about the vacancy rate. I think your idea of a hotel on the first few floors might work. Especially for the businesses that might operate on the higher floors, or vice versa.

texboy May 21, 2013 8:45 PM

I think part of the problem with the vacancy rate, is just the sheer age of some of the existing space in downtown. I believe Weston is one of/if not the newest office tower in downtown and that was in 88 or 89? You have to wonder just how out of date some of the infrastructure in terms of data, electrical, water, sewer, conveying equipment etc. is in these buildings. When companies move into a space, they don't want to be dealing with outdated real estate that could hinder their ability to grow.

WorldTexas May 21, 2013 11:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texboy (Post 6136260)
When companies move into a space, they don't want to be dealing with outdated real estate that could hinder their ability to grow.

True enough, but if the demand were there, wouldn't the property owners pay to update the infrastructure? Or once a B always a B?

miaht82 May 22, 2013 1:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WorldTexas (Post 6136540)
True enough, but if the demand were there, wouldn't the property owners pay to update the infrastructure? Or once a B always a B?

Maybe it pays to operate at a loss and keep it for "land holding" reasons (i.e. The Milam)? Heck, demand is not even there for crumbling buildings (eyesore on St. Mary's) to let people squat in it.

There is some demand for Class A space; One Riverwalk (caddy-corner to the eyesore) is only at 65% but I remember a while back they were upgrading and renovating the ground floor and "restaurant" at River level. Wouldn't have gone through renovation if they didn't feel demand would be there; even after the downturn in '07.

From Apr. 2012
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanantoni....html?page=all

Quote:

Enter Winthrop, which purchased One Riverwalk from Equastone last year, and has spent more than half a million dollars to reposition the property — including upgrades to the common areas, and exterior and interior landscape improvements. The firm has plans for another half a million dollars in interior upgrades in 2012, adds Peloton partner Nancy Preis Russell.
Give it a bit of time. Once the market absorbs the residential that's popping up, I expect a bit of an uptick at least by this time next year. Who know's, perhaps Weston might buy out The Milam and convert them to aparments, knocking two birds out.

KevinFromTexas May 22, 2013 3:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaga185 (Post 6136044)
Oh gosh. Got too excited, I meant ISN'T*

I thought that was meant as a jab at the HDRC. Honest.

adtobias May 22, 2013 6:35 AM

Any idea of what this building will look like?

texastarkus May 22, 2013 3:45 PM

just to throw this out there....
 
Submitted for conversation...Wouldn't it be better to have two 400'ers than one 800'? Please don't get me wrong, things are finally starting to happen here and I don't want our downtown to look like OKC with a couple kinda tall buildings and one really tall. A more extreme example would be if that 800'er gets built in Midland. Just sticking my neck out there....:shrug:

WorldTexas May 22, 2013 6:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texastarkus (Post 6137207)
Submitted for conversation...Wouldn't it be better to have two 400'ers than one 800'? Please don't get me wrong, things are finally starting to happen here and I don't want our downtown to look like OKC with a couple kinda tall buildings and one really tall. A more extreme example would be if that 800'er gets built in Midland. Just sticking my neck out there....:shrug:

Hey texastarkus, that's a great thought. I can see where you're coming from. Another example might be Dubai, where the Burj is massively taller than anything else around it.

However, I don't think that's what we'd be looking at here. According to Emporis, the Weston Centre is 557' at the top and the Tower is 622' at the architectural height or 730' at the tip of the antenna.

The CPS Energy building would fall somewhere in that 557'-730' range so it wouldn't be alone in that height range. It could look more like the Comcast Center in Philly, which looks like a natural growth in the skyline.

I think more important than height is the fact that there would just be a lot of empty space around it on the northwest end of downtown. Hopefully Weston Urban plans some taller apartments to go with the office building.

KevinFromTexas May 23, 2013 1:37 AM

The 557 foot "tip" height for the Weston Centre is for the antennas. That number came from an antenna registration website. And I'm not even sure the antennas are that tall since they are clearly not taller than the flagpole on the Tower Life Building which is supposed to be around 100 feet. I do know the building is taller than the supposed 444 foot height that we'd always seen. The most accurate height I've been able to find for it is 466 feet. I was the main editor for San Antonio at Emporis for 10 years.


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