SAN ANTONIO │ Frost Bank Headquarters │ 386 FEET | 23 FLOORS │ Complete

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by sakyle04

You know when you're having a conversation and you have a tangential conversation that runs parallel to the main conversation for a short time before fizzling out? And then you get back to the main conversation as if you never left it?

That's how forums work. And I love them.

Unfortunately, every time we over-moderate and amend the discussion and eliminate the personalities, we slowly reduce this to an impersonal information dump-site.

That's fine. I like the information that shows up - you guys have great sources and are faithful to post new stuff all of the time. But having been a poster here for almost 10 years and 1300+ posts, the elimination of the human element is driving me away.

If I swear, edit it.
If I call someone else a name or make a personal attack, delete it.
If I try to sell something, ban it.

But if I opine and complain and speculate and engage in argument...then let's embrace that.

If we see this like a long bar where we all drink a beer and talk about the city we love, then most of the side conversations die out within a few posts (while keeping it interesting during the lulls along the way). We agree collectively to not feed the trolls. We laugh together when one of us is wrong and gets group-shamed for it later.

This has been a really fun corner of the internet for a long time for me. Can we not kill it with the strict on-topic, chamber of commerce, optimists-only posturing?

Thanks,
Kyle Burkholder

PS - For those interested, I appreciate SKW and all he does around here. I certainly don't want the moderator job - thankless gig. Still, I want to recognize the hard work and say thank you to SKW. Cheers.

I agree 100%. I've pretty much abandoned the NY section because a guy in NY deletes anything he doesn't agree with, while insulting others in the process. I enjoy catching up on my home town (SA) and I enjoy the banter that goes on between the actual updates.

[Fireoutofclay]

Everytime you enter the bar I'm going to yell Kyle!

[STLtoSA]

Originally Posted by Fireoutofclay

If Weston were to occupy the remaining 150,000 sq ft. of the new building with his own affiliates (Geekdom, Rackspace, Cloud Academy), he should have more flexibility/creativity in terms of floor plans, and may be able to go taller and thinner. He could then sell the Rand Building or convert it into residential. I'm sure they've considered this at some point. In any case, I believe the look of this building should be more important than the the height. Having said that, I think I may still simultaneously laugh and cry if the height is below 400ft.

I am not trying to knock GeekDom, but don't you think that would be a waste of Class A office space?

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by STLtoSA

I am not trying to knock GeekDom, but don't you think that would be a waste of Class A office space?

I remember thinking that Geekdom would eventually move to the building as well. But I talked to one of the people that worked there and they did say that the Rand was their permanent home as they just renovated it. They have big plans for the ground floor with a coffee shop coming as well as a possible bar.

[Fireoutofclay]

Originally Posted by STLtoSA

I am not trying to knock GeekDom, but don't you think that would be a waste of Class A office space?

Oh you're bad, lol.

[Fireoutofclay]

Originally Posted by jaga185

I remember thinking that Geekdom would eventually move to the building as well. But I talked to one of the people that worked there and they did say that the Rand was their permanent home as they just renovated it. They have big plans for the ground floor with a coffee shop coming as well as a possible bar.

Aww, man

Ok, so it's wishful thinking, but you never know. USAA initially said they had no plans of placing any of its employees in One Riverwalk Place, then wouldn't you know it about a year later they bring in 100 employees. Geekdom used to be in the Weston Centre, so consolidation might prove to be good economics. I'm kinda digging the idea of converting the Rand into residential at some point. There is that cool tunnel underneath Main Street that City Employees and Rand residents could share. (Doesn't downtown Dallas have some cool stuff underground?) Weston has options is what I'm getting at. Tall and skinny is what I'm hoping for, a modern Tower Life to help create a downtown of crowns. Oooh, Crowntown (patent pending,lol) So I'm imagining any scenario where Weston can squeeze that sucker like a wad of clay.

[STLtoSA]

Originally Posted by jaga185

I remember thinking that Geekdom would eventually move to the building as well. But I talked to one of the people that worked there and they did say that the Rand was their permanent home as they just renovated it. They have big plans for the ground floor with a coffee shop coming as well as a possible bar.

They have only renovated 3 or 4 floors of the Rand building, most of the building is vacant. They recently completed touching up the exterior. In the process of that project they closed off all exterior entries with the exception of the main entrance.

The Rand building is perfect for Geekdom, I don't see them moving. They have incubator space in place as well as offices for smaller companies that are beyond the incubator phase. I believe that they either just finished/ or are working on creating larger spaces for companies that have more staff (not sure, but I thought that I read that). They have been using the Geekdom Event center regularly. I work next door and there is something there daily.

I would imagine that the goal is to get a higher price tag per square foot [Edit (Frost Tower)] than you would see at Geekdom.

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by STLtoSA

They have only renovated 3 or 4 floors of the Rand building, most of the building is vacant. They recently completed touching up the exterior. In the process of that project they closed off all exterior entries with the exception of the main entrance.

The Rand building is perfect for Geekdom, I don't see them moving. They have incubator space in place as well as offices for smaller companies that are beyond the incubator phase. I believe that they either just finished/ or are working on creating larger spaces for companies that have more staff (not sure, but I thought that I read that). They have been using the Geekdom Event center regularly. I work next door and there is something there daily.

I would imagine that the goal is to get a higher price tag per square foot than you would see at Geekdom.

Oh yeah. I almost worked for them ( but they chose someone else! ), so you're preaching to the choir, haha. Glad to know other people know how they work and that you shared that you work next door! You can keep me updated with them as I don't work downtown anymore, gosh I miss it.

I do know their plan is to eventually use the whole building. I used to work for Codeup in the Weston and being around all of them all of the time was so nice a year ago before they moved. I would ask Lorenzo all sorts of questions when I'd see him walking around.

I remember asking him about the Frost tower a year ago, since he and Graham are bffs, but he didn't share much. SKW still seems to know more than I was told, lol.

[Fireoutofclay]

Here's What Can Fit Inside the Newest Addition to San Antonio's Skyline
Posted By Mark Reagan
sacurrent.com
Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 10:25 AM
http://www.sacurrent.com/Blogs/archi...tonios-skyline

Have you ever wondered what can fit into a Class A office tower?

Well, the people behind the blog for Austin-based LawnStarter — an online booking company where people can schedule lawn service — were wondering the same thing.

[babysal]

For what's it worth, Randy Beamer stated the "proposed 50 story Frost Bank Development" starting demo work in 2016.

[SAguy]

Originally Posted by babysal

For what's it worth, Randy Beamer stated the "proposed 50 story Frost Bank Development" starting demo work in 2016.

Here it is-

http://news4sanantonio.com/m/news/fe...l#.Votai3Qo5nE

[sakyle04]

Originally Posted by SAguy

Here it is-

http://news4sanantonio.com/m/news/fe...l#.Votai3Qo5nE

Pulled from the text:

And the new and improved San Pedro Creek will be right next to San Antonio's next skyscraper, the first in 25 years.

Weston-Urban's Frost Bank Tower is still in the design phase, but is expected to be about 50 stories of residential, retail and office space on West Houston Street.

I'm told demolition and preliminary work on the site could start by late this year.

So end of 2016 for possible site work...?

Also, the text says residential, retail, and office but he didn't say that on air. So take from that what you will.

[OfCourse]

Pumped for this.

[sirkingwilliam]

No guys, it's only 18 stories...

Sorry, I had to.

[GoldenBoot]

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

No guys, it's only 18 stories...

Sorry, I had to.

At no time (at least publicly) was residential ever mentioned to be apart of this development. Thus, based on the the provided information, the numbers just did not add up to a tower of 40+ stories. Even in Weston's presentation to the city it was not included (in this tower).

If residential is a true component of this tower and depending on its design and total number of units, yes, it could top 40-50 stories (when including ~400,000 SF of office space and podium parking as well). We will see.

[kornbread]

It could be an Alamo shaped 18-story office building with a 32-story Tower of the Americas structure with a single rotating luxury residential unit (Vegas style; heavy on the cheese like a giant enchilada). Does that count?

I actually wondered if Beamer == SKW


Only 5 more months more of speculating and rumors
...maturity be damned!



Maybe it will be built before the Frank's hot dog place opens in SouthTown?

[sirkingwilliam]

Since it seems to need explaining. My comment was directed towards the biz journal article, not anyone on this forum.

[KevinFromTexas]

Ok, I'm a believer now.

As is the case most of the time with the media, the details are still kind of unclear. When they say 50-stories, I hope they mean 50 floors and not 50-stories, as in roughly 500 feet. 50 floors would likely mean a 600 to 700 foot building. It's my assumption that the 400,000 square foot number is for the office portion of the building only, because I doubt they could split that number between the office, residential and retail uses, and have it be practical. So I think the residential will likely add another 200,000 square feet or so, plus the retail. That would make it a sizable tower then, which would make it more likely to being a true tall tower. Probably somewhere around 600,000 square feet or so. For comparison, the Austonian in Austin has 56 floors with 590,000 square feet. That still leaves a big chunk of land, though, since the lot is pretty big. I guess the rest of the lot will be occupied by a large podium around the tower that will contain the parking garage.

[jaga185]

I thinking it will not only have a podium and garage, but also landscaping towards San Pedro creek. Which will definitely add some beauty to the site.

[UrbanTrance]

Originally Posted by UrbanTrance

Or it could also incorporate other uses in the building. Looking at some of the other high rises designed by big firms, some of them are only tall because they also added hotel, residential, etc.

I had a feeling they would add different uses to the building to make it taller.

I cannot wait to see the final design. All the towers under Pelli's New Work section are modern and beautiful.

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

As is the case most of the time with the media, the details are still kind of unclear. When they say 50-stories, I hope they mean 50 floors and not 50-stories, as in roughly 500 feet. 50 floors would likely mean a 600 to 700 foot building. It's my assumption that the 400,000 square foot number is for the office portion of the building only, because I doubt they could split that number between the office, residential and retail uses, and have it be practical. So I think the residential will likely add another 200,000 square feet or so, plus the retail. That would make it a sizable tower then, which would make it more likely to being a true tall tower. Probably somewhere around 600,000 square feet or so. For comparison, the Austonian in Austin has 56 floors with 590,000 square feet. That still leaves a big chunk of land, though, since the lot is pretty big. I guess the rest of the lot will be occupied by a large podium around the tower that will contain the parking garage.

Well most people outside of this board and topic probably don't distinguish between stories and floors. I'm hoping it's 50 floors. Hell if Austonian is only 56 floors @ 590000 sqf, then maybe we can push this toward the 60 floor mark? Well one can dream haha. But 50 floors itself is very good and would make an impact downtown. This is exciting.

Does anyone know when the designs/renderings will be released? Sometime this summer?