[SA] Cambria to build Hotel at Cibolo Town Center

[sirkingwilliam]

Schertz nets new Cambria hotel

San Antonio Business Journal - by Tricia Lynn Silva

Silver Spring, Md.-based Choice Hotels International has announced plans to build a new Cambria Suites hotel in the city of Schertz, located just northwest of San Antonio.

Cambria, which Choice describes as the place "where style, form and function meet," is the new upscale brand in the Choice Hotels family. The all-suite property features a state-of-the-art fitness center, a barista bar, and an indoor pool and spa.

The rooms include separate sitting areas, flat-screen televisions and wireless Internet.

The new Cambria will be located at 17703 Interstate Highway 35 North.

"As travel to the San Antonio area continues to grow, both leisure and business travelers are looking for a refreshing take on traditional hotel design and amenities," says William Edmundson, brand president for Cambria Suites. "And this Cambria Suites will offer just that."

The 129-suite hotel will be owned by locally based development firm Galo Properties.

"We're very excited to be building a Cambria Suites in Schertz," says Walt Busby of Galo Properties. "The fact that this new brand is reflective of today's travelers, who want to take their modern lifestyle with them when they travel, makes it an ideal match for the city of Schertz."

The Schertz Cambria marks the latest development under this flag in greater San Antonio. As reported by the Business Journal last February, a new Cambria is also planned for a site at 8505 Broadway in North Central San Antonio.

That hotel is being developed by The Summit Group Inc. The hotel development/management firm is building two hotels -- including the Cambria -- and accompanying restaurants on the site, which was previously home to the Center for Antiques and the Airport Convention Center.

Choice Hotels reports that as of Sept. 30, 2007, there were 59 Cambria Suites hotels in the development pipeline in 26 U.S. states and in Canada.

Cibolo Town Center | Mixed-Use | 200,000 Square Feet - Phase I | 600,000-800,000 Square Feet retail total

[sirkingwilliam]

Do the pictures show up?

[sirkingwilliam]

http://www.globest.com/news/1087_108...?sector=retail

Galo Salts $200M Project With 129-Room Hotel

By Connie Gore and Amy Wolff Sorter
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CIBOLO, TX-Galo Properties will build a 129-room Cambria Suites Hotel on the only hotel site in the 77-acre Cibolo Town Center, an estimated $200-million project for the city's only piece of Interstate 35 frontage. The town center plan has been on the drawing about 18 months.

The Cibolo Town Center site shores up a development deal for two hotels between the San Antonio-based developer and Cambria Suites' parent, Choice Hotels International Inc. of Silver Springs, MD. The hotelier bought a 2.06-acre tract at Broadway and Loop 410 beside San Antonio's Medical Center last year after its preferred developer took a bye, according to Walter G. Busby, Galo's president and COO.

Busby tells GlobeSt.com that Choice Hotels' executive team approached Galo about the 129-key hotel project in San Antonio's north central submarket, but also said they wanted at least one more hotel in Central Texas. That's when the developer laid the Cibolo Town Center site plan on the hotel company's desk. The incentive was a hard corner at 177031 Interstate 35 North and Weiderstein Road, which will be renamed to Cibolo Parkway.

Galo's plan is to break ground toward the end of year on the town center's first phase--the hotel and a to-be named, 174,000-sf retail project on 23.6 acres. Busby says the town center at build-out will have 600,000 sf to 800,000 sf of retail. The team is courting a theater, restaurants and national retailers for the development.

Busby says the retail leasing team has yet to be picked. Until then, he says "we're just responding to users."

City officials have signed an agreement earmarking 1.25% of sales tax revenue, valued at roughly $18 million, as the developer's reimbursement for infrastructure work, which includes building a loop road and bringing in utilities to 77 acres with three-quarters of a mile of interstate frontage. If ground breaks as planned, Cibolo Town Center's first phase will be delivering in late 2009 or early 2010.

Galo's Cambria Suites in the medical center will break ground in May. A spokesman for Choice Hotels says the plan isn't to stop with two. "As a result, I do expect we'll see more contracts coming out of there this year," he says.

In a press release, William Edmundson, Cambria's brand president, says San Antonio is an ideal area for the luxury flag. "As travel to the San Antonio area continues to grow, both leisure and business travelers are looking for a refreshing take on traditional hotel design and amenities--and this Cambria Suites hotel will offer just that," he says.

The two Cambria hotels are part of Galo's $300-million pipeline for this year. The developer will break ground in March on a 130-room Four Points by Sheraton in Promenade Place along Loop 1604 in San Antonio and start a twin eight weeks later at the intersection of US Hwy. 281 and Donella Road. Galo's 2008 construction docket also includes two office buildings.

"We've been working on this pipeline three years," Busby says. "We're ready to light the fuse."

I find it funny that it's called Cibolo Town Center and the dateline reads "Cibolo" but the development is actually in Schertz.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

Do the pictures show up?

I see them. Two right?

[verbl]

These two towns are growing into their own real fast. Great news for these great places