Univision is seeking buyer for its River Walk property
By: Tracy Lynn Silva
San Antonio Business Journal
December 10, 2010
The search is on for a new owner for a piece of land along San Antonio’s renowned River Walk.
Univision Communications Inc. has hired the local office of New York real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to market the sale of its downtown real estate property — a total of 4.34 acres of land at 411 East Durango.
The asking price was not disclosed. The property is currently valued at roughly $2 million, according to information from the Bexar Appraisal District.
For Univision, the sale would provide a financial vehicle for the media firm’s plans to consolidate its various divisions — including its television operations, which are currently located at the Durango site, and its radio and ad sales departments. The latter two are located in separate office buildings in North Central San Antonio.
For San Antonio, the sale could serve to spur some new development activity in the center city.
The land is zoned for mixed-use development, explains John Taylor, senior vice president of capital markets for JLL. Taylor and Elysia Ragusa, senior managing director of the commercial brokerage firm, are heading up the Univision assignment.
Taylor adds that the land would be ideal for a mix of retail, multifamily and office development, and even a structured parking lot.
Even the seller sees the potential for such a project.
“(The site) is very well located in the heart of San Antonio,” notes Luis Patino, vice president and general manager for Univision San Antonio. “It’s convenient to all of the venues downtown, and very accessible to the major expressways in San Antonio.”
It is simply more land than Univision needs, or wants, to own, explains JLL’s Taylor.
At present, the media company utilizes about one third of its Durango land — namely a two-story building measuring 21,000 square feet that houses all of the departments for KWEX-TV — the local Univision affiliate.
Meanwhile, Univision Radio has its offices at 1777 N.E. Loop 410. The Univision Spot Office, or ad sales office, is located at 70 N.E. Loop 410.
Univision leases roughly 20,000 square feet between the two properties.
The goal now is to bring all of Unvision’s functions under one roof, says Patino, who adds that the company is leaning toward leasing, rather than owning, such a space.
Univision, however, does not plan to vacate the Durango site right away, says Taylor. For a new owner, that means an opportunity for “immediate income as the final designs and permitting on the project are completed,” he adds.
As for where Univision will ultimately land, “They would like to be downtown, if they could find the right place,” Taylor continues.
Could that plan involve staying at Durango as a tenant in a mixed-use project?
“We will consider all scenarios that make operational and economic sense for Univision,” Patino says.
The property has already garnered interest from a mix of local, regional and national developers, Taylor says.
The investment side of the real estate market has not exactly been a hotbed of activity of late.
Still, the political climate of San Antonio makes it an opportune time for putting the Univision tract on the market, Taylor continues.
That climate, he adds, is one that has city leaders looking at ways to bring more life back into the center of the city.
“It is a phenomenal opportunity for mixed-use development,” says Ben Brewer, president of Downtown Alliance San Antonio, of the Univision land.
Prime location
At 4.34 acres, the Univision site is one of the larger tracts of land still available in the downtown area. Its size, Brewer continues, lends itself to a developer that can bring some new retail and residential to the central business district.
“Definitely, it ought to have a multifamily component,” says Brewer, who has been very vocal about the vital link between residential development and the center city’s revitalization.
High density is key to a successful development, continues Brewer, who adds that he and other stakeholders would like to see something in the “New Urbanism vernacular.” That would involve a project with a mix of uses, built around a pedestrian friendly environment.
Given the high visibility of the Univison land, such a project could also serve as a model for other developments in the New Urbanism vein. “This is an opportunity for a great model for that kind of development we’d like to see downtown,” Brewer says. “Get it in the right hands of a good developer, this could be one of those sites we tout as a great opportunity for downtown.”