SAN ANTONIO, TX

San Antonio is the third fastest growing city in the country (behind Phoenix and Los Angeles), and is the fastest growing metro in Texas, and has continued to outperform other metros in the state and across the country.   It is also America’s eighth largest city, with a population of 1.21 million and growing.  Many out-of-state investors are eager to get out of their expensive local market and into San Antonio.  Its growth is largely due to several significant developments from huge, reputable organizations, such as:

• Toyota’s $800 million truck manufacturing plant
• Washington Mutual has selected San Antonio as the location for its new regional operations center, bringing 4200 new jobs to the area over the next 7 years; the company also purchased MCI’s San Antonio campus.
• Greg Norman Golf Course Design currently is designing a new course at the Tournament Players Club of SA, which will be part of a world-class golf resort that will have a 1,000 room JW Marriott Resort.
• US Military will introduce 4000 new jobs via a plan that will make Fort Sam Houston the core center for military medicine and military medical training; the NSA will also expand its presence in San Antonio and add 6000 employees over a 4-year plan.
• The health care and biotechnology fields have an annual economic impact of $11.5 billion and employ more than 98,000 citizens. San Antonio has become a leading research and treatment center for cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other conditions thanks to the renowned South Texas Medical Center and more than 30 other medical facilities.
• San Antonio is a recognized leader in the information security industry. The Air Intelligence Agency, a Department of Defense center for excellence in information security, calls San Antonio home.
• More than 9,500 employees work in San Antonio’s emerging aerospace and aviation industry, which has a $2.5 billion annual economic impact.
• San Antonio is a top visitor and convention destination, with more than 20 million people choosing the Alamo City as their vacation or meeting site. Tourism employs more than 79,000 and contributes more than $4 billion annually to the local economy.
• Ranked eighth among the top 200 best places to do business in America by Forbes
• Ranked the second best housing market in the country by US News and World Report for its affordability and quality.
• Half of San Antonio’s new homes are priced below $150,000.

“You can’t go too many places in the country that you can build for that money. The development and construction industry has not caught up with demand,”

Lot inventory — a key measure of demand — remains low. San Antonio has a 13.9- month supply of vacant lots, which shows that builders and buyers are grabbing lots. A 20-month supply of lots is considered balanced.

These developments point to one underlying factor: job increases.  San Antonio’s job outlook is among the best in the nation, a direct positive influence on the multi-family market.  There are multiple “demand streams” that will contribute to increased tenant basis for commercial properties.  Among them: job creation, corporate relocation/expansion, and positive economic events in and around the city; property operations are expected to remain stable and economically feasible, and multifamily market is expected to make progress (especially with the anticipated growth in the job market); According to the Economic Forecast Study conducted by TXP Inc. “the total impact of relocation [and corporate expansion] activity will add more than 25,000 jobs to the local economy over the next several years.” 

Congressional orders for the closure and realignment of military bases is cause for panic in most military towns, but for San Antonio, the orders will bring thousands of new jobs and billions of dollars in construction over the next three years.

The base closure and realignment process "has really been a good thing for San Antonio," said Mayor Phil Hardberger.

The fifth and latest round of BRAC, ordered by Congress in 2005, will move thousands of military jobs to San Antonio, a community with an already large Defense Department presence.

The moves, to be completed by 2011, will include an estimated $2.1 billion in renovation and construction at Army and Air Force installations here.

The realignment will most affect Fort Sam Houston, a 131-year old garrison in the middle of San Antonio.

The base, which already is the headquarters for the Army's medical command, will become the center for all Defense Department medical training and research.

Trainees from Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington and naval facilities in Great Lakes, Ill.; Portsmouth, Va.; and San Diego will move to Fort Sam, as will Air Force trainees from Wichita Falls.

Fort Sam will also become the headquarters for the command that oversees all  Army post infrastructure worldwide.

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