flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

San Antonio’s electric utility HQ to transform into a modern office building

Office Buildings

San Antonio’s electric utility HQ to transform into a modern office building

The $10 million renovation will create 100,000 square feet of office and retail space with views of the city’s famed River Walk.


By Novid Parsi, Contributing Editor | June 13, 2022
146 Navarro ext 1
Courtesy Gensler.

In San Antonio, Tex., the former headquarters of CPS Energy, the city’s electric utility, is slated to transform into 100,000 square feet of office and retail space on San Antonio’s famed River Walk. BH Properties recently released its $10 million renovation plan for 146 Navarro.

Constructed in 1987, 146 Navarro has not been updated in decades. With the renovation project, each of the building’s three 28,000-square-foot cantilevered floors of office space will undergo a complete transformation to meet the modern needs of multiple tenants. The design, created by Gensler, takes advantage of the nine-foot floor heights, 1,500-square-foot wraparound patios, and floor-to-ceiling windows offering unobstructed views of the River Walk and downtown San Antonio.  

Each of the three office levels will have large, open floorplates with private, stepped-back terraces overlooking the river. The office component will sit on top of the once-private seven-story garage, which will be opened to the public to provide more than 600 parking spaces. 

BH Properties will introduce about 20,000 square feet of street-level retail, including a two-story restaurant with views of the river. In addition to the restaurant and bar, the ground floor will be further activated with covered terraces connecting to the River Walk. An enhanced lobby will feature an extruded glass box and metal panels. And BH will create several individual 750- to 1,500-square-foot retail pods on a new pocket park plaza.

The design also will include spaces for murals. Concepts will be sourced through a public art competition organized with Centro San Antonio, a placemaking organization focused on downtown San Antonio.

 

Building Team:

Owner and developer: BH Properties

Design architect: Gensler

MEP engineer: Alderson & Associates, Inc.

Structural engineer: Architectural Engineers Collaborative

Landscaping: MP Studio

General contractor/construction manager: Skanska

146 Navarro ext 2
Courtesy Gensler.
146 Navarro ext 3
Courtesy Gensler.

 

Related Stories

| Feb 14, 2011

More companies willing to pay extra for green office space

New CoreNet Global/Jones Lang LaSalle survey shows real estate executives forging green strategies that balance environmental, financial and workforce issues.

| Feb 11, 2011

RS Means Cost Comparison Chart: Office Buildings

This month's RS Means Cost Comparison Chart focuses on office building construction.

| Feb 11, 2011

Kentucky’s first green adaptive reuse project earns Platinum

(FER) studio, Inglewood, Calif., converted a 115-year-old former dry goods store in Louisville, Ky., into a 10,175-sf mixed-use commercial building earned LEED Platinum and holds the distinction of being the state’s first adaptive reuse project to earn any LEED rating. The facility, located in the East Market District, houses a gallery, event space, offices, conference space, and a restaurant. Sustainable elements that helped the building reach its top LEED rating include xeriscaping, a green roof, rainwater collection and reuse, 12 geothermal wells, 81 solar panels, a 1,100-gallon ice storage system (off-grid energy efficiency is 68%) and the reuse and recycling of construction materials. Local firm Peters Construction served as GC.

| Feb 11, 2011

Chicago architecture firm planning one of China’s tallest towers

Chicago-based Goettsch Partners was commissioned by developer Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. to design a new 294,570-sm mixed-use tower in Tianjin, China. The Tianjin R&F Guangdong Tower will be located within the city’s newly planned business district, and at 439 meters it will be one of China’s tallest buildings. The massive complex will feature 134,900 sm of Class A office space, a 400-key, five-star hotel, 55 condominiums, and 8,550 sm of retail space. The architects are designing the tower with multi-story atriums and a high-performance curtain wall to bring daylight deep into the building, thereby creating deeper lease spans. The project is currently finishing design.

| Jan 21, 2011

Manufacturing plant transformed into LEED Platinum Clif Bar headquarters

Clif Bar & Co.’s new 115,000-sf headquarters in Emeryville, Calif., is one of the first buildings in the state to meet the 2008 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards. The structure has the largest smart solar array in North America, which will provide nearly all of its electrical energy needs.

| Jan 19, 2011

Baltimore mixed-use development combines working, living, and shopping

The Shoppes at McHenry Row, a $117 million mixed-use complex developed by 28 Walker Associates for downtown Baltimore, will include 65,000 sf of office space, 250 apartments, and two parking garages. The 48,000 sf of main street retail space currently is 65% occupied, with space for small shops and a restaurant remaining.

| Jan 7, 2011

Mixed-Use on Steroids

Mixed-use development has been one of the few bright spots in real estate in the last few years. Successful mixed-use projects are almost always located in dense urban or suburban areas, usually close to public transportation. It’s a sign of the times that the residential component tends to be rental rather than for-sale.

| Jan 4, 2011

An official bargain, White House loses $79 million in property value

One of the most famous office buildings in the world—and the official the residence of the President of the United States—is now worth only $251.6 million. At the top of the housing boom, the 132-room complex was valued at $331.5 million (still sounds like a bargain), according to Zillow, the online real estate marketplace. That reflects a decline in property value of about 24%.

| Jan 4, 2011

Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery

Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category



Sustainable Design and Construction

Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.


MFPRO+ News

San Francisco unveils guidelines to streamline office-to-residential conversions

The San Francisco Department of Building Inspection announced a series of new building code guidelines clarifying adaptive reuse code provisions and exceptions for converting office-to-residential buildings. Developed in response to the Commercial to Residential Adaptive Reuse program established in July 2023, the guidelines aim to increase the viability of converting underutilized office buildings into housing by reducing regulatory barriers in specific zoning districts downtown. 

halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021