Nursing College Leases Building in Hot San Antonio Submarket

Galen College of Nursing is preparing to relocate its San Antonio campus to a larger facility to meet the rising demand for healthcare workers.

The for-profit nursing school, which currently operates from One Technology Center at 7411 John Smith Drive, plans a move to the Vista Corporate Center, a five-story office building at 13805 Interstate 10, the San Antonio Express News reported. The landlord’s identity is shielded behind a company called 15000 IH 10 Ltd., whose name contains the address for San Antonio-based Security Service Federal Credit Union.

The relocation, scheduled for next spring, is part of the college’s effort to expand its capacity and boost enrollment, spokesperson Steve Harris said. The college will spend $15.5 million to renovate the first four floors of the 157,000-square-foot building. The renovations will touch 121,000 square feet, amounting to $128 per square foot.

Developed on spec in 2016 and previously occupied by USAA, the building will support Galen’s 2,500 students and 200 faculty and staff.

Transwestern’s Russell Noll and Kelly Ralston, alongside Deborah Bauer of Drake Commercial, represented the building’s owner in the lease negotiations.

The building is in San Antonio’s Northwest submarket, a key area for commercial real estate with the largest inventory of office space in the city.

Despite the submarket’s nearly 19 million square feet of inventory, the area’s vacancy rate was just 9.4 percent in the second quarter, significantly lower than the citywide vacancy rate of 13.7 percent, according to Transwestern.

Notable transactions in the submarket include University Health’s $28 million purchase of an office building at 6200 Northwest Parkway last month. Meanwhile, the University of Texas at San Antonio has plans for a mixed-use development on 28 acres nearby.

— Andrew Terrell