The Cibolo Town Center site shores up a development deal for two hotels between the San Antonio-based developer and Cambria Suites' parent, Choice Hotels International Inc. of Silver Springs, MD. The hotelier bought a 2.06-acre tract at Broadway and Loop 410 beside San Antonio's Medical Center last year after its preferred developer took a bye, according to Walter G. Busby, Galo's president and COO.
Busby tells GlobeSt.com that Choice Hotels' executive team approached Galo about the 129-key hotel project in San Antonio's north central submarket, but also said they wanted at least one more hotel in Central Texas. That's when the developer laid the Cibolo Town Center site plan on the hotel company's desk. The incentive was a hard corner at 177031 Interstate 35 North and Weiderstein Road, which will be renamed to Cibolo Parkway.
[IMGCAP(2)]Galo's plan is to break ground toward the end of year on the town center's first phase--the hotel and a to-be named, 174,000-sf retail project on 23.6 acres. Busby says the town center at build-out will have 600,000 sf to 800,000 sf of retail. The team is courting a theater, restaurants and national retailers for the development.
Busby says the retail leasing team has yet to be picked. Until then, he says "we're just responding to users."
City officials have signed an agreement earmarking 1.25% of sales tax revenue, valued at roughly $18 million, as the developer's reimbursement for infrastructure work, which includes building a loop road and bringing in utilities to 77 acres with three-quarters of a mile of interstate frontage. If ground breaks as planned, Cibolo Town Center's first phase will be delivering in late 2009 or early 2010.
Galo's Cambria Suites in the medical center will break ground in May. A spokesman for Choice Hotels says the plan isn't to stop with two. "As a result, I do expect we'll see more contracts coming out of there this year," he says.
In a press release, William Edmundson, Cambria's brand president, says San Antonio is an ideal area for the luxury flag. "As travel to the San Antonio area continues to grow, both leisure and business travelers are looking for a refreshing take on traditional hotel design and amenities--and this Cambria Suites hotel will offer just that," he says.
The two Cambria hotels are part of Galo's $300-million pipeline for this year. The developer will break ground in March on a 130-room Four Points by Sheraton in Promenade Place along Loop 1604 in San Antonio and start a twin eight weeks later at the intersection of US Hwy. 281 and Donella Road. Galo's 2008 construction docket also includes two office buildings.
"We've been working on this pipeline three years," Busby says. "We're ready to light the fuse."
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