{San Antonio} City of Windcrest Secures 111 Acres for Massive Mixed-Use Project

[sirkingwilliam]

City of Windcrest Secures 111 Acres for Massive Mixed-Use Project

New Development Includes Rackspace Managed Hosting HQ at Windsor Park Mall

The City of Windcrest Economic Development Corp. purchased 111 acres in San Antonio, which it plans to redevelop into a European-style neighborhood with a mix of retail and residential space.

The land was acquired for $16.92 million, or about $152,500 per acre. Kit Corbin and Brian Allison of Grubb & Ellis represented the seller, NFP Partners, a division of Niemann & Niemann.

The proposed development will be conducted in conjunction with Windsor Park Mall, which Rackspace Managed Hosting is redeveloping into a high-tech campus for its headquarters. Plans for the project are approved and construction should begin in six-to-eight months.

The entire project, including the City land and the mall with some additional parcels, will total 303 acres. It is slated for 3,700 residential units and 1 million square feet of retail and office space.

The land was part of the City of San Antonio, but during the escrow process, Windcrest agreed to annex the land from San Antonio for the project. The total size of Windcrest is approximately 700 acres.

[coddat]

I believe this is the land immediately to the south of the mall, on I-35 at eisenhauer. Windcrest needed to do this, apparently the circuit city at Windsor Park Centre north of Walzem is going to close and move to the fountains, or what ever they are called now in Live Oak.

[sirkingwilliam]

If I have the same Windcrest area/shopping center in mind that you're talking about, pertaining to Circuit City, well it looks like the city of Windcrest is going to redevelop that area/shopping center.

In other news, the city, along with Rackspace and the owners of the Windcrest Shopping Center in the 5200 block of Walzem Road, has signed a contract with architecture firm SA Partnership to create a master plan for the business district that stretches along most of the city's I-35 frontage and includes the Walzem Road area, EDC Executive Director Ray Watson said.

The firm will conduct a charrette, or planning workshop, with area stakeholders in the coming months but no exact date has been set, Watson said.

"Basically our goal is to design a master plan that can be utilized by Planning and Zoning, the EDC and everybody else that will allow progress on Walzem Road and do some smart planning," Watson said. He added that the plan will create a model for sustainable development that will take cues from plans developed during a recent charrette conducted by Duany Plater-Zyberk and Co. for two areas south of Walzem Road totaling 303 acres.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/met...9.2adcc54.html

P.S.

The shopping center under construction at 1604 and 35 that CC is moving to is called Gateway Plaza, though it was originally called The Fountains.

[coddat]

5200 block of Walzem would be east of Roosevelt, I believe that would be where the Luby's is. They need to work on Walzem Plaza, where the Target used to be as well. Well basically the whole area needs work. They need to stop the bleeding of retailers immediately, and get some more causal sit-down restaurants, which seem to do very well since Red Lobster, Olive Garden and Applebee's are continuously packed in that area.

[sirkingwilliam]

I think a large part has to do with image and with the beatification of Walzem Rd and I believe a name change should do wonders for businesses along Walzem.