Attracting shopping and restaurants has helped make the former military base into a booming neighborhood.
Over the last two decades, innovative developers have turned a former Air Force base on the South Side of San Antonio into a thriving core of retail and residential growth.
Brooks Air Force Base, once home to test flights, space initiatives and research for 100 years, is now a vibrant South-Side community embracing the “live, work, learn, play or stay” philosophy. The area, now known as Brooks, has seen immense change across its 1,308 acres, but one sector has been key to its radical transformation — retail development.
Today, Brooks is home to over 150 businesses and has completed over $1.4 billion in development in the last decade, with $700 million in the previous year, according to Brooks President and CEO Leo Gomez.
It started in 2002 when Brooks Air Force Base was transferred to the Brooks Development Authority, resulting in its transition to Brooks City-Base. This created a new partnership to establish a public-private redevelopment initiative. According to Gomez, this came after the BDA failed to support the research initiatives the United States Air Force had been conducting on the base.
“They tried to leverage what the Air Force had been using as a private development and research development, and that really didn’t take hold. So, it wasn’t until about 12 years ago or so that the mission and vision changed to creating one of a mixed-use community where you could learn, work, play, stay, heal, etc.,” he explained.
The redevelopment, which initially was meant to prioritize attracting more major employers to the area, Gomez said, officially took off when a local developer, Mark Granados of Hill Granados Retail Partners, approached the BDA about developing retail on 60 acres of the base.
Granados said that after seeing the area, he felt confident he could attract Walmart as the first anchor tenant despite concerns that the grocery chain already had a store three miles away.
“The obstacle was, these would be the two closest Walmart Super Centers in the country, but we saw enough business there, and so we started moving forward,” he said.
Through his efforts, along with the help of former San Antonio Mayors Nelson Wolff and Ed Garza, Walmart and Sam’s Club were solidified as the first anchor tenants at Brooks — an acquisition Granados describes as pivotal.
“The project exploded when they decided to bring Sam’s Club,” he said, noting this was significant because of the small number of tandem Walmart and Sam’s Club stores in the country.
This acquisition served as a stepping stone for retail development, with several others following soon after. The original 60 acres would eventually be developed to hold a Chili’s, Best Buy, Broadway Bank, Chick-fil-A and others.
“There were times when we were all very frustrated or where we all wanted to walk away, but we knew it would work, and it just took the effort. A lot of people played key roles in getting it done. By no means was it one person driving it or one person making it happen,” Granados added.
From the opening of the Mission Trail Baptist Hospital in 2011, the only full-service hospital on the South Side of San Antonio, to the six residential communities that house between 1,300 to 1,500 residents today, Brooks has seen significant growth since its redevelopment started in 2002.
Gomez noted he’s proud of the reason behind Brooks’ transformation. Although the redevelopment was meant to bring more jobs to the area, it has been executed in a way that has supported prosperity not only for the region but also for the people at Brooks.
“It’s not enough to redevelop just the 1,308 acres that used to be a base. We have to do it in a way that really creates opportunity for the neighborhoods around us,” he explained.
This holds today, according to Gomez, as the current development efforts have resulted in household income increases of well over 30% in the surrounding neighborhoods and a 10% increase in high school graduation rates — both of which have contributed to the decline in the poverty rate in the area.
“That’s the big picture at Brooks, and we’re thrilled to be doing it and look forward to continuing on this journey,” he added.
Four additional residential communities are under construction, and another four are under contract at Brooks. The communities are expected to grow from 1,500 to 5,000 residents, with a long-term goal of 10,000.
This population growth also contributes to continued retail growth, as Gomez hopes to make retail development accessible to everyone living at Brooks.
“If we’re truly developing the mixed-use community that we envision, we need to bring the kind of retail that’s neighborhood friendly, that’s on their corners, that they can walk to. So that’s our priority going forward,” he explained.
The area’s retail growth has prospered recently, according to Gomez. In just the last six months, Brooks has opened 12 restaurants and plans to add more to its retail and entertainment district, La Picosa.
Among these are BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Bubba’s 33, Outback Steakhouse, Stout House, Plucker’s, Crumble Cookies, 7 Brew Coffee and Dutch Bros and Starbucks.
This area also includes one of the only two Dave’s Hot Chickens in San Antonio and an additional location of La Gloria, a San Antonio-based Mexican restaurant that started at The Pearl and has a presence at the San Antonio International Airport and the AT&T Center.
“I’m proud of the retail we have here. We have a lot of nationally recognized chains. We have some local operators as the franchisees of those chains, but we want to build on the presence of local business,” he said.
Amid its retail boom, Brooks is also looking to construct a town center at the heart of Brooks. This development will take up about 30 acres of the four quadrants at South New Braunfels and Sidney Brooks, just south of La Picosa. It is expected to include retail, restaurants and a mix of residential development.
“In that town square will be a sushi restaurant and a panaderia concept from Mexico City. We are also working with an operator of a piano bar that could operate a bar on the second floor of the development,” Gomez shared.
He added that Brooks is aiming to add more local businesses as well, saying that it is willing and ready to work with people who are creative or have concepts to bring.
“If they’re a small local business and they work with us to start up their operation here, we’re going to be supportive. They’re not on their own. We’re going to make sure and help make sure that the market knows they’re here, that their neighbors know they’re there,” he said.
Find the full story here: How retail reshaped Brooks