ICE Eyes Massive San Antonio Warehouse

A sprawling warehouse on San Antonio’s East Side once billed as the city’s largest industrial development might be headed for an unusual new buyer: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

ICE is considering acquiring Oakmont 410, a 639,595-square-foot warehouse at 542 Southeast Loop 410, according to sources cited by the San Antonio Business Journal. The building, completed in 2022 and owned by Oakmont Industrial Group, has sat vacant despite nearly three years on the lease market.

Multiple real estate sources told the outlet that ICE is expected to close on the property imminently, though no transaction has yet to be recorded in Bexar County records. Oakmont and ICE did not respond to requests for comment. The property is marketed by Partners Real Estate, whose brokers declined to comment.

If the deal goes through, it would align with ICE’s broader nationwide push to secure “substantially large” warehouse facilities for detainee processing and detention. Another source told the publication that a private contractor is handling site selection for ICE, with one in McAllen also under consideration.

Similar searches have surfaced elsewhere: the Kansas City Business Journal recently reported that ICE was evaluating a 920,400-square-foot warehouse there, following a December Washington Post report on the agency’s hunt for warehouse-style facilities across the country.

D Magazine confirmed a planned 1-million-square-foot detention center in Hutchins — a small town in Dallas County southeast of Dallas, first mentioned in that Washington Post report. The warehouse at 950 North I-45, next to the Hutchins State Jail, is capable of holding up to 9,500 people, more than 10 times the capacity of the nearest ICE facility in Prairieland.

The Oakmont building’s zoning could complicate matters. While it carries an industrial designation, that zoning does not allow human occupancy, meaning a special use permit from the city would likely be required if the facility were converted to house detainees, according to the publication. The property did receive a zoning verification letter from the city in December, a common step ahead of a potential sale.

Local officials are already signaling resistance. Bexar County Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who represents the area, said he was unaware of ICE’s interest, but forcefully opposed the idea, calling detention facilities “the most disreputable commercial activity since WWII” and vowing to fight any such use. A spokesperson for District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez declined to comment, labeling the reports speculative.

— Eric Weilbacher