Port San Antonio Aims to Lure Companies with Trophy Office

Plans are in motion to lure companies to Port San Antonio, the redevelopment of San Antonio’s former Air Force base.

The port’s board approved spending $7.5 million to finalize architectural plans for Innovation Tower, a 300,000-square-foot mixed-use development that would include office space, a hotel, grocery store, restaurants, retail, a childcare facility and “a vertiport with air taxis,” the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The wing-shaped building would rise 12 stories at the entrance of the 1,900-acre Port San Antonio campus. It’s expected to cost $275 million ($250 per square foot) and could be delivered as early as 2028. The port plans to finance the building with a combination of debt and the port’s equity.

The building has already started pre-leasing, according to the port’s website.

Port CEO Jim Perschbach anticipates rents at Innovation Tower could be $50 per square foot, which surpasses rent rates for new office space in popular submarkets like downtown and the Pearl.

Perschbach’s plans to put high-end office space at the port have been questioned, but the port has already built a solid tenant base, he told the outlet.

The port has 80 tenants with about 18,000 employees, he said. About 97 percent of the 10 million square feet of space is occupied, he said. The area caters to cybersecurity, defense and aerospace companies; it’s home to offices for companies like Boeing and Accenture.

“This isn’t just some sort of ‘build it and they will come’ effort,” he told the outlet. “We’re very confident we’ve proven our market.”

The numbers back him up; since 2020, the port has increased its operating revenue by 69 percent to $75 million and its net operating income by 56 percent to $29.5 million.

—Jess Hardin