Quote:
Originally Posted by Txdev
I don’t have a problem with wanting taller buildings, but some of the posts about wanting taller buildings, when it doesn’t make sense economically, or more ground floor retail, in places that don’t make sense, just make me roll my eyes because I know how amazing it is that they’re building what they’re building.
The reason no one has built an office tower downtown in 30 years is because with current construction costs, you’d have to get $50/sf rent, which is almost double the cost of the Weston Centre.
To build it skinnier would mean smaller floorplates, which work for residential pencil towers in NY, but not for office space, where firms generally don’t want to be split over a lot of floors. To build it taller would mean an even bigger parking garage, and much higher costs (every additional floor means that all of the columns below have to be a little bit thicker, the elevator system more expensive, the drain pipes a little wider, the foundation piers a little deeper, the AC chiller system a little bigger, etc. And it is largely unproven whether the market will respond at those rates. (Other than Frost, I haven’t heard of any leases being signed.)
So to go forward and build it, hoping that tenants will come, and knowing that if they do come, they may be coming out of the Weston Centre (cannibalizing some of his existing tenant base) takes an incredible amount of guts and faith in San Antonio. His willingness to sign his name on a $100 million construction loan, which is a lot, even if you’re a billionaire, is putting his money where his mouth is, in a way that few in San Antonio have been willing to do.
In short, it’s amazing.
And so I feel like I’m watching the development Olympics, and just watched someone nail a perfect triple flip on the snowboard, and the guy drinking beer at the bar next to me says “yeah, but he should have done a quadruple flip.”
It’s not that a quadruple flip wouldn’t be awesome, but it may feel to some, that it shows a lack of understanding and respect for how hard it is to do what was done.
So instead of saying “It should be taller”, as if the architects and developers, through sheer lack of imagination, just hadn’t considered doing 60 stories, but now that you say it, they will...
Instead maybe say “I hope this building leases quickly so eventually it might make sense for someone to build an even taller tower.”
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$50 per sq ft is not realistic. One of the biggest reasons, similar to Austin and its high costs of living, is lack of that type of living (penthouse and sky living). Lack of type of space is what makes demand high and prices high. Take Chicago, I can get a great apt in a prime area for less than what many charge for a similar type and area in Austin and San Antonio because of few places of its type exist, which brings demand up and prices up. To be more specific, I can get a 1 bedroom at the Aqua in Chicago for less than 3k a month. That is nothing comparatively speaking. Why? More to choice from. Many developments came to San Antonio, but what stopped them? Come on, we all know that answer. It's the same people that continuously say, "historic" and "don't change" and "we are our own city". Are biggest loss was AT@T.
Someone else posted not long ago about all the sq ft of office space that was developed outside of downtown San Antonio. The want for office space downtown is there, its that a few number of people have stopped what many have wanted. Properly taxes are high in Texas. It is much more economical for a company to build high on a small lot than in vast open land, taking up a number of acres or buildings similar to what USAA has done (hence why they are slowly moving back downtown, the need for more office space, that is).
In downtown's favor: What many don't understand is the many companies that exist. There are so many, if I were to list, you may not even know those names. Just look at the offices taken up by One World Trade. The Frost Tower will do fine. But with time. Again, with time...because many see Frost as a negative. A significant cultural change for downtown San Antonio. Therefore, those same people that don't want downtown to change also see anyone moving into such a modern complex as turning their back on the culture that exist in San Antonio to keep things "historic". An example of this is the significance of news coverage on this tower and seeing the often many negative comments regarding it. So...in short, political and economic growth downtown is slowing but it is there in the backdrop of company minds.
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