By: Madison Iszler | From: San Antonio Express News

From the makeover of San Antonio International Airport to the expanding cluster of manufacturing plants on the South Side and city officials' ambitious Project Marvel downtown, major developments are altering the city's neighborhoods and changing its skyline.

City leaders’ plans to create a sports and entertainment district anchored by a new Spurs arena and the construction of a ballpark for the Missions baseball team would reshape downtown. We’re also watching residential projects rise among the area’s hotels and the construction of the Alamo Visitor Center and Museum, which will tell the entire 300-year history of the mission and battle site.

After transforming the dilapidated Pearl brewery into a mix of high-end apartments, hotel rooms and restaurants, Oxbow Development Group is adding more of the same across the San Antonio River. The firm’s success has set off a wave of activity in the surrounding area, with other developers seeking to erect housing, hotels and space for restaurants and stores.

JCB is building a manufacturing plant on the city’s South Side, and crews are working on a massive $1.7 billion terminal at the airport on the North Side.

A nonprofit has proposed building a center for medical innovation near the bioscience hub it’s created on the East Side. On the booming far West Side, an area peppered with single-family houses, a developer wants to erect condominiums.

As the city morphs, here’s a look at 20 projects we’re keeping our eyes on.

Project Marvel

801 E. César E. Chávez Blvd. (future Spurs arena site)

City officials want to create a sprawling sports and entertainment district in the southeast corner of downtown, which they code-named "Project Marvel." They envision a new arena for the Spurs — the centerpiece of the district — as well as an expanded Henry B. González Convention Center, a second Convention Center hotel, a renovated Alamodome and the former John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse converted to an event venue. The facilities could be surrounded by apartments, restaurants, stores, parks and parking as well as new streets and potentially a land bridge over Interstate 37. Most of the components of Project Marvel could be started or built within five years, according to a November presentation to City Council.

Institute of Texan Cultures

801 E. César E. Chávez Blvd.; future location TBD

The University of Texas at San Antonio plans to demolish the building known as the Texas Pavilion at Hemisfair that has been occupied by the Institute of Texan Cultures, a museum highlighting the state's diverse cultures and history. The building is one of the last remaining structures erected for the 1968 World's Fair and is slated to be replaced by a new arena for the Spurs as part of city officials' Project Marvel proposal.

University leaders plan to build a new home for the museum, though they have yet to choose a location. Their preferred option is a lot behind the Crockett Hotel at Bonham and Crockett streets because of its proximity to attractions such as the Alamo, future Alamo Visitor Center and River Walk. Another option is a block bounded by Navarro, Augusta and North St. Mary's streets and Richmond Avenue at UTSA's Southwest Campus.

The university plans to raze the Texas Pavilion building in 2025 and construct a new home for the institute in 2029 or 2030. It is leasing space at the Frost Tower to temporarily display objects and archives.

Alamo Plaza

300 Alamo Plaza

Alamo Plaza is undergoing a major makeover. The city, Texas General Land Office and Alamo Trust are lead partners in the public-private project at the historic downtown plaza that aims to provide a place of reverence within the footprint of the 1700s Mission San Antonio de Valero and 1836 Alamo fort, the site of a 13-day siege and battle for Texas independence. Plans include a museum and visitor center, incorporating portions of the historic Crockett and Woolworth buildings into the design, set to open in 2027 on the west side of the plaza. Other elements of the project include storytelling by trained reenactors in period dress, replicated features of the historic mission-fort, a new exhibit hall and collections building with 10,000 square feet of display space, an education center for school field trips and distance learning, and adjacent pedestrian plazas.

Broadway East

1618 Broadway and a few lots east

Fulcrum Development and GrayStreet Partners plan to turn about 15 acres across Broadway from Pearl into a mixed-use development, named Broadway East. The first phase of the project will feature stores and restaurants in two- and three-story buildings between Broadway, Casa Blanca Street, North Alamo Street and the 1800 Broadway apartment complex. A website for Broadway East indicates that the first phase will encompass 170,000 square feet and could be finished in 2027. Future phases are expected to include up to 1,000 apartments, a hotel and potentially townhouses or condominiums.

Continental Block Project

601 Dolorosa St.

Downtown developer Weston Urban is rehabilitating the former Continental Hotel, Arana building and Melchio de la Garza house and constructing a 16-story tower. The project is on a block bounded by Commerce, Dolorosa and Laredo streets and San Pedro Creek downtown. It will include 318 mixed-income apartments as well as commercial space for retail and offices. Weston Urban partnered with the Bexar County Public Facility Corp. on the project, which is expected to be finished in late 2025.

Tower Life Building

310 S. St. Mary's St.

The iconic Tower Life Building downtown is slated to be converted from offices to mixed-income apartments and retail, a project spearheaded by the McCombs family, local developer Ed Cross and Jon Wiegand of Alamo Capital Advisers. They are working with the Bexar County Public Facility Corp., a county nonprofit that will provide a full property tax exemption for decades in exchange for the developers including units for families earning less than the area median income.

Arboretum San Antonio

4226 S.E. Military Drive

Arboretum San Antonio is turning the closed Republic Golf Club on the South Side into a 188-acre arboretum, a garden that will be dedicated to showcasing regional trees and other plants. Former Mayor Henry Cisneros formed Arboretum San Antonio to spearhead the project. A master plan for the property is still being finalized.

The Rock at La Cantera

1 Spurs Way

Spurs Sports & Entertainment is building a roughly 45-acre development at the northwest corner of Loop 1604 and Interstate 10 called The Rock at La Cantera. The centerpiece is a state-of-the-art training facility for the Spurs dubbed the Victory Capital Performance Center, which opened last year. A park, fan shop, plaza for events, private social club and restaurant called Roca & Martillo that’s operated by local chef Jason Dady also have been completed at the 45-acre development. A research center and medical, hospitality and office space also are part of the multiphase plan. UT Health San Antonio will lease about 20,000 square feet in a 60,000-square-foot building developed by Lincoln Property Co. for outpatient care and research. Lincoln is leading the development of The Rock. Next to The Rock, Phoenix Property Co. plans to build about 340 luxury apartments, a parking garage and about 10,000 square feet of commercial space in multiple buildings on empty land at 5955 Via La Cantera.

Palo Alto Hospital

Jaguar Parkway and South Zarzamora Street

University Health is building a hospital called Palo Alto Hospital next to Texas A&M University-San Antonio on the South Side. It will have 166 inpatient beds initially, with room to expand to 286 beds. It also will have an emergency department, labor and delivery unit, neonatal intensive care unit and other departments and is scheduled to open in 2027. Construction on a health care center and headquarters for the University Health Institute for Public Health is also underway and is expected to be finished in 2026.

UTSA downtown expansion

622 Dolorosa St.

The University of Texas at San Antonio is building a 180,000-square-foot building called San Pedro II along San Pedro Creek downtown. Also known as the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Careers building, it will house business, computer engineering, hardware and software development and science programs, as well as research. San Pedro II is expected to be completed in October, with the building opening to students in January 2026. It will be across the creek from San Pedro I, a 167,000-square-foot building that houses the School of Data Science and the National Security Collaboration Center. The university also is seeking to buy a cluster of buildings and parking spaces next to San Pedro I and the One Riverwalk Place office building, further expanding its footprint in the city center.

East Side bioscience hub

321 Center St.

VelocityTX, a nonprofit organization, has pitched building a center for medical innovation near its bioscience hub on the East Side as an offshoot of the military's plans to consolidate the Defense Health Agency locally. The joint agency is studying the proposal for the center, which would anchor a bigger development on the former site of the G.J. Sutton building on Center Street. It would be near the Merchants Ice complex, which VelocityTX converted to office and lab space for bioscience and bank tenants.

16th Air Force headquarters

907 Billy Mitchell Blvd.

Port San Antonio's leaders submitted a proposal to help the Air Force build a new headquarters for the 16th Air Force, the unit responsible for information warfare that's housed at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. The Air Force is reviewing the pitch. The unit's complex could be near a modern, wing-shaped office tower that port executives plan to build at the entrance to the Southwest Side campus. The 11-story, 295,000-square-foot building would provide more space for companies wanting to be at the port, which is home to more than 80 cybersecurity, aerospace, defense and advanced manufacturing tenants.

Airport expansion

9800 Airport Blvd.

The city’s 20-year plan to expand San Antonio International Airport includes a new terminal with up to 17 gates, a connector between Terminals A and B and a ground transportation center that will include as many as 2,000 parking spaces. Terminal A likely will be demolished, at least partially, and remade. The new terminal will have about 41,000 square feet for restaurants, bars and shops. The city’s plan also calls for extending one of the airport’s two main runways to allow for more international travel. The new terminal is slated to open in 2028.

Oxbow Development Group's projects

1210 E. Elmira St.

Oxbow Development Group, the real estate arm of Pearl owner Silver Ventures, is building more housing, retail and hospitality space on land it owns across the San Antonio River from and just north of the former brewery — doubling the footprint of Pearl. Construction is underway on nearly 700 apartments, a hotel, parking garages and space for restaurants, bars and office tenants. Oxbow also is building more bridges across the river, connecting Pearl to the new projects.

McCombs Enterprises' project

West Jones Avenue and Camden Street

McCombs Enterprises plans to build a mixed-use development on about 6 acres of land next to the San Antonio Museum of Art. The project will include housing, offices, a hotel, retail space and parking, as well as public art and outdoor plazas.

Missions stadium

611 N. Flores St.

The owners of the Missions plan to build a stadium downtown for the Double-A team that would be surrounded by private development, which is tied to the financing for the ballpark. The development, spearheaded by Weston Urban, would include apartments, a hotel, parking and space for restaurants and stores and be built in phases through 2031. The stadium is scheduled to open in 2028.

JCB manufacturing plant

13610 Texas 16

British construction and agricultural equipment maker JCB is building a 720,000-square-foot manufacturing plant on about 400 acres on the South Side. The company plans to hire at least 1,500 employees over five years to make telescopic handlers and other equipment.

The Gabriel

10225 Braun Road

Metropolitan Development Co. and Agave Land & Development want to build 146 condominiums on about 8 acres just outside Helotes in West Bexar County. One-, two- and three-bedroom units would range from about 460 square feet to 1,500 square feet, with prices starting in the low $200,000s.

Southtown Aldea

141 Lavaca St.

Oxbow Development Group plans to build about 250 apartments, 40,000 square feet of space for restaurants and shops, and a parking garage on 4.7 acres along East César E. Chávez Boulevard at Lavaca and Matagorda streets. The project is named "Southtown Aldea," the Spanish word for "village," and seeks to better connect Southtown, downtown and Hemisfair.

Villita Assembly Building

401 Villita St.

MLSA Ventures plans to renovate the historic Villita Assembly Building downtown to add a restaurant and space for outdoor dining and to better connect the building to the River Walk. The work includes building an outdoor terrace a level above the River Walk for a restaurant and patio, reconfiguring a plaza at the southeast corner of the property as a gathering space, lowering a plaza on the northeast side of the building to the River Walk level, installing windows to let in natural light and adding a stairway from the building to the Arneson River Theatre.