Embrey Plans Built-to-Rent Project Outside San Antonio

Embrey, a San Antonio multifamily developer, closed on 74 acres in Schertz, where it plans a single-family rental project, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

The development, which will sit on the northeast fringe of San Antonio along Interstate 35, is the latest in a slew of similar projects in the fast-growing corridor between San Antonio and Austin.

Embrey’s development, called Collection Schertz Station, will include 318 townhouses at the intersection of I-35 and Cibolo Valley Drive. It will also have a retail component, led by another San Antonio firm, Merit Commercial Real Estate, but the details of it are not clear.

The duplex townhouses will range from one to three bedrooms. Don’t fear, racqueteers: The development will have pickleball courts.

The site sits behind retail projects by Santikos and EVO. Santikos, the San Antonio movie theater giant, has branched out into multifamily and retail development.

Embrey has several other built-to-rent projects under the Collection banner. Those include developments in Fort Worth, New Braunfels and Boerne. The firm previously said it aims to invest $500 million in single-family rentals by this year.

Embrey recently developed 7600 Broadway, an office and residential project on the North Side. That building has 216 apartments, as well as offices for Morgan Stanley and Embrey. The company has been building across the Sun Belt for 50 years, and recently began tapping into private equity to expand its capital base.

The 80 miles between Austin and San Antonio have been some of the hottest places for new development in Texas, as the population of both cities swells. Developers in each city have been sprawling out toward the other, with places in between, like New Braunfels, becoming booming markets of their own. Some 20 percent of new San Antonio residents moved there from Austin, as the capital city has grown far more expensive.