Zara to open 30,000 sf store in San Antonio

The gigantic cowboy boots in front of North Star Mall will soon have more fashionable company. 

Clothing retailer Zara leased a 30,000-square-foot store at the San Antonio shopping center recently, according to plans filed with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The new shop, located at 7400 San Pedro Avenue, will cost an estimated $6.6 million to build out, according to the filing. That would be $220 per square foot.

Work is expected to begin in June and run through November. Zara has another location in San Antonio, in the Shops at La Cantera. 

Brookfield Properties owns the North Star Mall and the Shops at La Cantera. While it has focused on shopping centers in San Antonio, Brookfield owns four logistics properties in Austin. It is far more invested in Dallas and Houston, where it owns 34 and 28 properties, respectively, ranging between offices, logistics centers, retail and multifamily. 

Zara’s founder, Amancio Ortega, knows a thing or two about real estate. The billionaire, who is also Spain’s richest man, owned more than $17 billion worth of real estate, according to a 2020 report. He has been on an industrial buying spree, picking up five logistics properties across the United States for $722 million in September. At the start of last year, he spent nearly $1 billion on the Royal Bank Plaza skyscraper in Toronto.

The company is one of the leading brands in fast fashion, delivering new designs in a matter of weeks where a traditional production process would take months. Its biggest market is Spain, where it has nearly 550 stores, Forbes reported.

Retail development in San Antonio has been particularly strong in the suburbs, according to a report from CBRE. Occupancy rates citywide reached 95 percent toward the end of last year, with 800,000 square feet under construction. Even during the pandemic, retail performance remained relatively strong, with occupancy never dipping below 93 percent.