There are a number of mixed hotel-apartment developments in the city's pipeline, but hotel-office ones? That's a first.
Another boutique hotel is slated for the downtown San Antonio site at the corner of East Commerce and North Main, but local REM Hospitality is giving it a twist by incorporating office space and retail into the mix.
The hotel development and property management company has closed on a 0.4-acre site north of the Cathedral of San Fernando and a block southwest to the future Frost tower. REM is moving quickly with plans for a new Choice Hotels International (NYSE:CHH) boutique hotel concept that will also include roughly 30,000 square feet of office and 8,000 square feet of retail space.
Choice Hotels International recently opened a Cambria location in New York. REM Hospitality will be developing the first in San Antonio.
There are a number of mixed hotel-apartment developments in the city's pipeline, but hotel-office ones? That's a first. REM's CEO Pratik Patel said the decision came after talking with a hotel professional at a conference on the East Coast about how the next generation of workers all want to live in the central district and work in a vibrant downtown.
"San Antonio's downtown doesn't have the appeal to draw young folks in, so how do you make downtown a business hub?" Patel said.
And for him, this development is what he calls his "heritage project."
REM "has never stamped ourselves in downtown, and this opens our eyes to other city center urban projects."
The Cambria-branded hotel — Choice's lifestyle arm that focuses on modern, experiential upgrades — will also include indoor/outdoor roof deck, complete with pool, a bar, gastrology lounge, a conference room with attached private kitchen and expansive views of downtown San Antonio.
The only other Cambria hotel in Texas is located in Plano.
REM purchased the site from Choice Hotels, which bought it about a year and a half ago with plans to move forward with a hotel development. However, those intentions disintegrated, and it decided to sell the site and bring REM on as the preferred developer.
With an estimated 180 rooms, the Mayse + Associates-designed development is expected to break ground July 1. Following an 18-month construction period, REM is anticipating a delivery sometime in the fourth quarter of 2017.
The Cambria hotel "will help the city get attraction in the center," Patel said. "San Antonio downtown has always been a high-demand hotel market, the lag has just been for development on the office side. This will focus on that."
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Katie Burke
Reporter
San Antonio Business Journal