Dan Sieger, a Toyota spokesman, said the company chose San Antonio for several reasons. Its work force, a good plot of land near infrastructure, an attractive incentive program and a favorable state tax structure. He adds: "And it's a great place to live."The $800-million assembly plant is to have 2,000 employees when running at full production. "The kind of jobs that Toyota will bring directly plug a real hole that's been in the city," Hockenyos says. In recent years, the city has lost a textile manufacturer and food processors.

Hockenyos said the $20-an-hour jobs at the Toyota plant should help develop south San Antonio. "This is something south San Antonio really needs," he says. He looks for a growth in single-family home developments and retail developments.

He adds that the public relations value shouldn't be discounted. Other companies, especially those interested in doing business in Mexico and Latin America, are sure to look closely at San Antonio. "You'll begin to see people saying, 'Hmm. A strategic decision by Toyota to go to San Antonio, huh? Maybe we ought to think about that,'" he says.

The industrial market should be the first area to feel the impact of the new plant and its suppliers. It would absorb some of the city's 6.8 million sf of empty warehouse space. "Toyota subcontractors are going to fill up some of those properties that may have been vacated for three or four years," says John Taylor, a Trammell Crow Co. industrial broker in San Antonio.

He tells GlobeSt.com that there will be speculative construction as well. Several developers have plans in the works to start building. "There've even been a lot of investors from the outside asking about it," he says. "Everybody was waiting for a formal announcement before they kicked it off. Now everybody's thinking they waited too long." For previous story, click here.