Concord's 121,000 square-foot office building to make Class A impression.

A noted master-planned development on the city’s far North Side will soon be home to the city’s latest Class A office project.

San Antonio-based Concord Property Corp. has turned dirt on its latest office development: Concord Park II.

The property will be located at the northeast corner of Sonterra Boulevard, at Ronald Reagan Drive, says William T. Ellis, president of Concord Property.

The project will span 121,000 square feet roughly spread out equally over three floors.

The project is set to come online next October. Development costs were not revealed.

Concord Park II is being developed as a speculative office building, although Ellis points out that there has already been “significant interest” in the project.

Concord Park II is the latest project within the Concord Park development. All told, this community spans 176 acres of land off of Loop 1604, between Stone Oak Parkway and U.S. Highway 281 North.

It has been seven years since the first project in Concord Park made its debut. That building, now known as Concord Park I, boasts several high-profile tenants — including Toyota Financial Services, Capmark Finance and Marathon Title.

Besides marking the debut of the Concord Park development, Concord Park I also helped to usher in a new office submarket for San Antonio.

“There wasn’t a (far North) submarket when we started,” says Taylor Dorris, a marketing associate with San Antonio-based Travis Commercial Real Estate Services. Dorris and Travis Commercial partner Stephen R. Thomas are the exclusive brokers for Concord Park II.

Concord Park I was a “great pillar to start from,” adds Dorris. Today, Concord Property boasts several office developments within Concord Park — most of which are close to 100 percent occupancy.

 
Future vision

 

Over the years, Concord Property’s office developments have targeted a wide array of office users — from the smaller tenants wanting to own their work space to the larger tenants wanting a first-rate address, Dorris says.

With Concord Park II, Ellis’ firm is going to back to the roots of the project’s predecessor. The goal, Ellis says, will be to bring in the national and regional tenants that have made Concord Park I successful.

Leasing rates for Concord Park II will start at $19 per square foot on a triple net basis. (Thus tenants will pay the base net of $19 per square foot, plus property taxes, insurance and common area-maintenance fees.)

That rate makes Concord Park II a competitive alternative in the market. As of Sept. 30, Class A office spaces in San Antonio were commanding an average rent of $22.63 per square foot, according to the latest market analysis by locally based real estate firm NAI REOC Partners.

The floorplates in the new building will enable Concord Park II to go after the larger tenants that don’t want their workspace spread out over several floors — as tends to be the case in many of the existing high-rise Class A office properties.

But unlike most of the value-office properties in the market today, Concord Park II will combine efficiency with an elevated Class A product, Dorris says.

“Corporate tenants are demanding efficiency,” Ellis adds. “The only way you can deliver that is with these big floorplates.”

It is a design trend that is being played out in other parts of the city as well, according to industry officials who recently spoke with the Business Journal about the future of office development in San Antonio.

“As the costs of occupancy have increased, employers are striving for greater efficiency,” notes David Held, a senior partner in locally based firm Endura Advisory Group. “Low-rise buildings (like Concord Park II) offer lower rents and higher parking ratios than those found by their high-rise brethren.”

 
Forward looking

 

All told, Concord Park is now home to some 750,000 square feet of space — 500,000 square feet of which Concord Property put on the ground itself. The community boasts a mix of office, medical and retail projects, and 325 units of multifamily development.

Concord Park II will feature a facade of masonry with contemporary metal accents and window walls, Ellis says.

A collection of four stainless steel totems — each ranging in height from 18 to 20 feet — will dominate the main entry plaza. The totems are being created by California artist Brad Howe, Ellis adds.

The lobby of Concord Park II will feature African Sapele wood paneling, natural stone flooring, architectural metal railings and a central staircase. The lobby will also serve to show off commissioned art pieces.

Strict architectural controls have ensured that the larger Concord Park development carries a flavor of high-end consistency, Ellis says. Concord Property has also taken care to leave much of the natural landscape in the area intact.

“He is the epitome of what a young developer should be,” says Brad Parman, referring to Ellis. Parman is a principal in the Parman Group — the family owned firm that is the developer of Stone Oak. The tony community lies adjacent to Concord Park.

“(Ellis) goes out of his way to preserve the natural setting,” Parman says.

Adds Ellis of his firm’s work: “We are creating an asset that we want to own in 10 years.”

 
Concord Park II

What: A new Class A office project


Where: Located at the northeast corner of Sonterra Boulevard, at Ronald Regan Drive, on the far North Side


Who: Developer is Concord Property Corp.; Travis Commercial Real Estate Services is marketing the property


Size: The project will span 121,000 square feet — to be spread out over three stories of some 40,000 square feet each
What else: Concord Park II is the latest project within the master-planned community known as Concord Park