University to buy Downtown San Antonio Office Building

The University of Texas at San Antonio is becoming a real estate clutch hitter with plans to buy a downtown office building.

The university signed a letter of intent to purchase One Riverwalk Place, an 18-story office building at 700 North Saint Marys Street, the San Antonio Business Journal reported.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents is set to review the proposed acquisition this month.

“The opportunity to acquire One Riverwalk Place is so strategic for us,” UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said. “It’s adjacent to our Southwest Campus, affords programmatic and placemaking opportunities and is an incredible building and facility for our keen interests in academic innovation and the arts.”

Constructed in 1981 and previously occupied by USAA, the building is jointly owned by Affinius Capital, formerly USAA Real Estate, and Houston-based Patrinely Group.

UTSA plans to repurpose the nearly 265,000-square-foot property to house academic departments and support staff, with the possibility of incorporating retail spaces on the ground floor. The university plans to move departments into the building next summer.

The acquisition is a way to boost downtown San Antonio’s growth, particularly within the tech corridor, and to support UTSA’s ongoing investment in the area, said Veronica Salazar, UTSA executive vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer.

The acquisition aligns with UTSA’s recent developments in the area, including the construction of the School of Data Science and the National Security Collaboration Center, as well as the upcoming $130 million Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Careers building, San Pedro II.

The university is also looking for a developer to spearhead a development on 28 acres it owns near its Park West Campus. UTSA is looking for apartments, retail and “amenities and activity for the benefit of the community and UTSA,” its request for proposals said.

Enrollment at UTSA is growing. Its freshman class set a record for enrollment last fall, with 3 percent growth from 2022, totaling nearly 35,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

— Andrew Terrell