Brooks Military Installation Gets New Set of Orders
Published Mar 05, 2009
With major roadway construction well under way and strong demand for new office space, Brooks City-Base is starting to realize its full potential.
The technology-based complex came about in 2002 when the entire Brooks Air Force Base was deeded to the Brooks Development Authority, creating a stand-alone city base.
The facility, which still lists the U.S. Air Force as its lead tenant, has since become a research hub. Tenants as diverse as DPT Laboratories, a major pharmaceutical concern, and the Brooks Academy of Science and Engineering, a charter school that will add 10 acres to its existing site and a 12th grade class at its school, have been drawn to the base.
As the first phase of the South New Braunfels Extension enters the base, even more prospective tenants are beginning to buzz around the 1,246-acre site’s 2 million square feet of lab space, says Terri Williams, director of economic development for the Brooks Development Authority.
“The road extension will increase traffic access, and when the second and additional phases are done, it will connect all the way through the campus to the 410 loop on our southern end,” Williams says. “That’s going to allow us to open up several more parcels for development throughout the campus.”
The development authority also has sold 28 acres to the Baptist Health System, which plans to break ground on the $173 million Southeast Baptist Hospital at some point in 2009. BHS also has the option to purchase 20 contiguous acres when they become available, and is expected to build more medical office facilities at that time.
“That goes right in line with our target industries of medical and health care, and will open up a lot more development to support it,” Williams says.
In preparation for new tenants and to address the needs of several companies that already want to be on site, the authority is panning to break ground on a $25 million, 133,000-square-foot office building that will be LEED-certified at the gold level, and also be the first Class-A office space on the south side of San Antonio.
“We have a lot of people who want existing space, and we don’t have much available,” Williams says. “Right now the Air Force is still occupying about 90 percent of our building space, and so this will give us property to market to companies who want that new space.”
Story by Joe Morris
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