SAN ANTONIO – Construction is underway on a $250 million development expected to bring homes, apartments, shops, and restaurants to the city’s South Side.
The community, VIDA, will be just north of Texas A&M University-San Antonio’s South Side campus.
SouthStar Communities is the developer of the project.
“At full build out, it’s going to be about 4,000 different types of housing. For sale, for rent, apartment, and townhomes,” said Thad Rutherford, president & CEO of SouthStar Communities.
Rutherford said the 600-acre regional hub is focused on community, education, and health.
This summer, construction crews have been building homes at the site located off Loop 410 and South Zarzamora.
“We have Palo Alto across the highway. We have Texas A&M-San Antonio. A bunch of faculty and students in this area. So, we think VIDA is going to be a great choice for them to live, to work, to play,” Rutherford said.
Plans include a Zocalo, a gathering space for festivals, concerts and movie nights. VIDA will also include a town center, with shops and restaurants.
Rutherford said VIDA is bringing opportunities.
“For our town center, we’ll add jobs. We hope to add more office space, so people move their jobs down here,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said the project is also bringing business to the area. Two of the builders have never built on the South Side before.
“Perry and Highland have never built on the South Side. We are very excited to bring them down to the success that we’ve seen here,” Rutherford said.
Highland Homes have already been selling VIDA homes.
University Health is also planning to build an acute care hospital within the VIDA project site. The hospital will be on 68 acres located at Zarzamora Street and Jaguar Boulevard, and will include about 140 beds and medical offices.
“They are purchasing land within the VIDA community and that’s very exciting for us. So, we are going to tie a lot of what we do programming wise and development wise in and around the town center and Zocalo back to the UHS Hospital campus,” Rutherford said.
And major employers are drawing people to the South Side, including Navistar, Toyota and TJ MAXX.
“What do people want out here? They want food. They want food choices for housing. They want to be safe. They want health. They want education. VIDA is going to contribute to that,” Rutherford said.
Rutherford said the overall project will take about 10 to 15 years.