Phase Two of the RiverWalk Crossing project is now taking shape, although some unforeseen weather circumstances have slowed down the process a bit.

Unusually wet weather conditions over the last few months have pushed the completed date to June, although it appears as if progress is starting to take shape.  Many construction companies have noted that the wet weather conditions are unlike any other they have experienced. In fact, many construction companies have said that it was one of the worse years for wet weather-related delays to date.

The phase two RiverWalk Crossing project, which will consist of two, 25,000-saquare-foot, mixed-use buildings that will house San Antonio downtown office space will be located at the Jenks retail center.

The estimated cost of this two-building section will be $5.5 million.

Despite the weather-related delays, major tenants are already lined up, including McDermott’s Grille, a restaurant and music venue and Midnight Rodeo, a country and western club chain.

The upper floors of the two-building project will be devoted to San Antonio downtown office space. The addition of San Antonio downtown office space will be a welcomed addition to this area, and is sure to bring in a multitude of tenants looking to take advantage of this prime area of the city.

In addition, a 350-seat amphitheater will be a part of the project and will be similar in design to the current amphitheater in RiverWalk Crossing.

Other changes expected soon include:

• Construction has begun on the RiverWalk Apartments, a development by the TranAlliance Development Group. The 234 apartment units are expected to be finished this spring.
• Calistoga Grill has opened up in the former location of Alehaus.
• Twisted Tilt, a 6,000-square-foot bar and grill, will take the place of TKs 2 Asian Restaurant.
• Blind Lemons, a bar with a blues theme, will open soon in the shopping center.

The RiverWalk is San Antonio’s most famed attraction, as it attracts millions of visitors each year. Just some of the attractions that draw visitors to the RiverWalk include:

• San Antonio Zoo
• The Alamo
• San Antonio Botanical Garden
• The Guenther House
• King William Historic District

This looks like a promising year for Bexar County, in terms of homebuilding. In fact, coming off of the last few years of dismal homebuilding statistics for Bexar County, Bexar County activity appears to be heading toward a very positive year.

Homebuilding Levels in Free Fall during Recent Years

Let’s first look at the fact that, since 2006, homebuilding in North Texas fallen 70 percent. Yep, that’s right: 70 percent. According to the recent statistics, homebuilding in North Texas is the slowest it’s been in more than 20 years.

With all this doom and gloom you’d think that there wasn’t a bright spot to be found; but, instead, it looks as if the Bexar County activity is quite strong. The Dallas-Fort Worth and the Houston markets were ranked as the top two building markets in 2009. In 2009, Houston posted 22,360 building permits and the Dallas-Fort Worth area has 14,130 last year. Other cities to make the list of top building markets for 2009 include: Austin, San Antonio, Washington, D.C., Phoenix and Atlanta.

Building Permits on the Rise

Although homebuilding permits are up in Bexar County and in North Texas, jobs are another issue. In 2009, the state of Texas lost almost 300,000 jobs. Amazingly, though, this number is small compared to other markets across the country.

The stronger economy across Texas, including Bexar County activity, has therefore boosted the need for homes.

A Shorter Supply of Homes on the Market

As of the last quarter of 2009, all major markets across Texas had about a six-month supply of homes for sale; compare that to the national average of 10 months and it’s easy to see that this area of the country is leaps and bounds ahead of other areas in terms of employment and housing activity.

In fact, many real estate experts are predicting that many of the markets in Texas will experience a housing shortage as the year draws on.

Some builders are increasing their construction efforts as a result of this positive news, although there are still many builders who are being cut off from financing, thereby making the job of filling the demand for new homes quite difficult. This is especially true if employment growth picks up later this year, as many experts are predicting.

As the year progresses, many homeowners are more than a little confused as to whether it is a good ideal to sell their home.

However, now may be a good time to reevaluate your needs and wants and decide whether or not to list your Terrell Hills home for sale.

Although this year remains uncertain, the market will likely improve. So, the question is: should you sell your Terrell Hills home now?

• Right now, there is a healthy supply of Terrell Hills’ homes for sale on the market. However, as the year moves on, there will likely be an even bigger supply of homes on the market as many sellers look to move during the summer months. So what better time to get into the market and leave your mark than now, as all the other homeowners wait by the sidelines?
• The homebuyer tax credit has been extended, but not for long. Wait until spring or summer to list your Terrell Hills’ home for sale and you could be missing your best opportunity to sell your home. This is especially true for first-time homebuyers, so if you own a modest home that would make a great starter home, consider listing your home on the market now and catch all those first-time homebuyers who are taking advantage of the homebuyer tax credit.
• Interest rates are still low, but many experts predict that they will begin creeping up as the year progresses. There are many buyers out there who are actively searching for Terrell Hills’ homes for sale because of the attractive financing rates, so get in on the action while it’s hot.
• It only makes sense that you will not only want to take advantage of selling in today’s market, but buying, as well, so get out there and sell your Terrell Hills’ home so that you, too, can take advantage of less competition, lower interest rates, and the first-time homebuyer tax credit. Remember: there are advantages for both buyers and sellers in today’s market, so position yourself so that you can take advantage of both!

There is no shortage of luxury neighborhoods in San Antonio and, as a result, there a great selection of luxury home builders from which to choose if you are interested in building your dream home.

Luxury neighborhoods abound in San Antonio. From the Dominion and Champion’s Ridge to Alamo Heights and Greystone Country Estates, there are many luxury neighborhoods that boast outstanding luxury homes and estates.

Stadler Custom Homes

Founded in 1995, Stadler Custom Homes has been working to provide its customers with only the most positive home building experience. These high-quality, hand-crafted custom homes and the strong business presence behind them has allowed Stadler Custom Homes to become one of San Antonio’s most prominent custom home builders.

Stadler Custom Homes builds homes in the $400,000 to the $2.6 million range. Some of the communities in which Stadler Custom Homes is currently building homes include:

• Anaqua Springs Ranch – Anaqua Springs Ranch is an environmentally preserved community that is located just minutes from the city. The wooded valleys of Leon Creek provide a picturesque backdrop to this community, which has become one of the most prominent Hill Country community’s in San Antonio.
• Cordillera Ranch – Cordilla Ranch is a master-planned community that offers everything from a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course to over 8,700 acres of pristine beauty. This Hill Country community is located just 13 miles from San Antonio, and the best shopping is just 16 miles away at the Shops of La Cantera.
• Estancia at Thunder Valley – Estancia at Thunder Valley is an exclusive community in Texas Hill Country that boasts such outstanding features as equestrian, fitness and entertainment facilities. The prime location of Estancia at Thunder Valley makes it just 20 minutes from the Shops at La Cantera and the Dominion Country Club.
• Cascada at Canyon Lake – Situated comfortably between Canyon Lake and the Texas Hill Country, Cascada at Canyon Lake is an environmentally harmonious community that features a gated entrance, a wooded land and beautiful, natural springs and waterfalls. Community features include one mile of parkland and a community center, complete with tennis courts, an outdoor swimming pool, and a children’s playground.

Stone Oak is one of those suburbs that just makes sense. After the real estate crash of the 1980s, Stone Oak remained strong, as did many of the other master-planned communities in the area. In fact, the idea behind the master-planned community of Stone Oak works just as well today as it did in years past.

Stone Oak was built under a master-planned community concept. Not only would this town offer plenty of residential real estate, but it would also offer everything a community would need: offices, churches, banks and schools, among other things. The location would allow residents to work close to home, and the children would all attend the same school. In short, Stone Oak was built as a community-oriented concept.

Many communities have been built on the master-planned community principle, but it seems like Stone Oak works particularly well. Here are the following, top three reasons why Stone Oak has become such a highly desired neighborhood and why we love it so:

1. The Texas Hill Country provides a picturesque backdrop to Stone Oak, which features four elementary schools, two middle schools and an expansive high school. There are also several private schools throughout the community.  All of the schools of Stone Oak are highly regarded and acclaimed.
2. Stone Oak features many medical facilities, one of which is located in the center of the community: North Central Baptist Hospital. Another recently opened hospital, Methodist Hospital, is also located in the center of the community. Both of these hospitals offer many medical services, and house plenty of doctors, as well.
3. Stone Oak real estate is highly sought after and is varied to suit nearly every budget, taste and style. In fact, Stone Oak real estate often varies from the $100,000 for smaller, starter homes to estate homes worth in excess of $1 million. Individuals who work in San Antonio often find Stone Oak real estate to quite ideal, as it affords them a quite, suburban lifestyle, yet is just minutes from the opportunities of the city.

If you’re looking for the ultimate in suburban relaxation then look no further than Terrell Hills.

Ideally located just minutes from downtown San Antonio, Terrell Hills offers upscale living and a premier proximity to the opportunities and excitement of downtown San Antonio. Although Terrell Hills boasts a number of great shopping and dining venues, this affluent community best known as a quiet, bedroom community in San Antonio’s Uptown Central area.

The Neighborhoods of Terrell Hills

There are three neighborhoods which make up the community of Terrell Hills: Terrell Hills, Alamo Heights and Olmos Park. These three neighborhoods are bordered by Fort Sam Houston and San Antonio, thereby making the location nothing short of ideal.

From charming, mid-twentieth century cottages to grandiose estates, Terrell Hills is a destination for luxury real estate for some of San Antonio’s most successful professionals and public figures. Beautiful architecture and equally beautifully manicured lawns can be found throughout the meandering streets of Terrell Hills.

The Homes of Terrell Hills

The homes of Terrell Hills are highly sought after, and the prices clearly reflect that. In fact, the homes of Terrell Hills are some of the most expensive in San Antonio.  It is not uncommon for some of the estate properties in Terrell Hills often exceed $1 million. There is also a nice variety of condominium homes throughout Terrell Hills; many of which are priced between $100,000 and $500,000.

Students in Terrell Hills are served by the highly acclaimed Alamo Heights Independent School District.

The real estate market in Terrell Hills remains very competitive, despite the national economy and housing market struggles. Homes in Terrell Hills rarely stay on the market for a long period of time, as there is no shortage of San Antonio residents who want life the luxurious Terrell Hills lifestyle.

A quick search of Terrell Hills’ real estate yields a number of estate homes that exceed $1 million. Homes in Terrell Hills are currently priced at about $200 per square foot, and many of the newer homes often exceed 6,000 square feet in size.

The median list price for a home in Terrell Hills currently stands at $429,000. There is currently an eight-month inventory of homes on the market.

There is one certainty: VIP Realty is unlike any other real estate firm!

As many other real estate companies are suffering due to last year’s lackluster economy and housing market crisis, VIP Realty actually has too many leads and not enough agents!

Now may be the best time to join VIP Realty and become a part of one of the fastest-growing real estate companies in Texas! The allure of VIP Realty, for most agents, is sure to be our customizable commission plan. In short, VIP Realty allows you to control your real estate career while holding onto your hard-earned commissions!

Your Commission Choices

Unlike other real estate firms, VIP Realty allows you to choose a commission plan that best suits your experience and your goals. From a 100 percent sales commission plan for the most seasoned real estate agents to an 80/20 or a 50/50 commission split for agents who need a bit more guidance to succeed, we allow our agents to control their own destiny!

The philosophy behind VIP Realty’s commission plans is quite simple: not every commission plan will work for every agent. It doesn’t make much sense to provide every agent, regardless of his or her experience and skill, with the same commission plan. Instead, the VIP Realty commission plan works by allowing you to customize your commission plan and thereby take a greater role in your real estate career!

The Benefits of Residual Income

Another benefit given to the agents of VIP Realty is the steady stream of residual income from recruiting efforts.  If you are skilled at revenue sharing and networking and you can introduce and sponsor new agents then you can start to earn a residual income stream. Positive recruiting is just one other way in which VIP agents can begin to build a multi-tiered web of growth.

Finally, VIP Realty offers its agents a huge Internet presence, thereby driving business through exceptional, SEO services.  A strong Internet presence means more leads and more leads mean more revenue for you! It’s that simple!

Take the time to learn more about VIP Realty and why it is now one of the most successful real estate companies in San Antonio!

The San Antonio commercial real estate market is many things, and lately one word to describe it is unique. Even as sales and activity continue to pick up in the San Antonio commercial real estate market, rent prices continue to fall.

According to NAI REOC San Antonio, asking rents for the fourth quarter of 2009 in San Antonio were down 26 cents to $17.85 per square foot, when compared to asking prices in the same quarter of 2008.

Rental Prices Continue to Drop

With an excess of supply in the San Antonio commercial real estate market, landlords have been forced to drop their prices. Although 26 cents isn’t a huge decrease in price, it becomes quite significant when dealing with large spaces.

Moving Towards a Stable Market

However, even amidst rental price decreases, the San Antonio commercial real estate market is stabilizing nicely after a rocky year. In fact, vacancy rates dropped to 13.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to 14.3 percent in the same quarter of 2008.

Many real estate experts find that as vacancy rates decrease the rental prices will soon start to stabilize, thereby creating a more balanced San Antonio commercial real estate market.

The magic number for vacancy rates appears to be 10 percent, and the San Antonio commercial real estate market is clearly headed in the right direction. When that happens, landlords will have more control over their rental spaces, thereby creating more harmony and stability in the San Antonio commercial real estate market.

How we got Here

San Antonio’s retail market saw a big hit in 2009 when some of the area’s major retailers, such as Circuit City, closed up shop. Although San Antonio in general survived better than other areas of the county in terms of its commercial real estate market, it definitely had an effect on the bottom line.

Another factor that led to an increase in commercial rental space was that many construction projects that were started before the recession took hold wrapped up in 2009, thereby creating much more available space in the San Antonio commercial real estate market.

There have been some positive signs for the San Antonio office space market. From the debut of the headquarters for the local company Tesoro Corporation and the consolidation of operations for Wells Fargo, these moves are being seen as very positive signs for the San Antonio economy.

However, these positive signs for the economy left more than 220,000 square feet of office space vacant.  Combine that with the highest office space vacancy in years for San Antonio, and it’s clear to see that San Antonio has a bit of an office space issue.

In fact, the end of the third quarter of 2009 brought on San Antonio’s highest office space vacancy rate in five years – 18.4 percent. In comparison, the vacancy rate for San Antonio office space was 14.2 percent for the same period in 2008.

Lending Standards at a Standstill

The nationwide credit crisis has greatly affected any new investment for the San Antonio office sector. Unfortunately, the clampdown on lending in San Antonio has brought new investment in San Antonio to a veritable halt.

New projects are simply not able to get off the ground, thereby leaving developers with no other options for financing. However, many developers are unwilling to start new projects anyway because of a lack of demand.

With all of the doom and gloom of the office space sector in San Antonio, rental prices still continue to increase: rental rates for San Antonio stood at $20.41 per square foot in September 2009, compared to $20.24 September 2008. Many times, however, the concessions that are being offered by landlords may affect these prices.

Still Going Strong

Despite the tough lending standards and vacancy challenges, the office market in San Antonio is still posting gains. The bottom line is that San Antonio is still an attractive place to do business. The low business costs and the high quality of life continue to attract new businesses to this dynamic region of Texas.

Downtown San Antonio condos are about to have a brand new addition: the Broadway.

The Broadway, which will be the newest in downtown San Antonio condos, is the brainchild of Koontz McCombs, who envisioned a lifestyle development that features only the highest standard of living. To further highlight his vision of the Broadway, there are now two model units open that clearly reflect the vision of this project.

Koontz McCombs has worked alongside the Baxter Design Group to bring these model units to fruition. As a result, the interior finish selections of the completed models “will set a new standard of fine living in San Antonio,” according to Bart Koontz, CEO of Koontz McCombs.

A Service-Oriented Experience

The Broadway, which is located at Broadway Street and Hildebrand Avenue in downtown San Antonio, is still under construction and due to open this summer. The Broadway has more to offer than other downtown San Antonio condos, though, as it offers a “service-oriented living experience” like one would expect at one of the world’s finest hotels. As such, the Broadway has developed many unique partnerships like Nieman Marcus and Mercedes Benz of Boerne.

These partnerships will allow residents of the Broadway to receive only the best services, including everything from lifestyle, retail and premium automotive services. The overall goal of Koontz McCombs is to provide resident-only services that afford residents with the ultimate in customer conveniences.

The Broadway, once opened, will clearly reflect a higher-end market, although instead of flaunting wealth, the Broadway will instead reflect today’s shift in values of living well, without the pomp and circumstance involved.

Model Homes now Open

The two models – one is the 1,262-square-foot Astor and the other is the 2,356-square-foot Gershwin – will allow buyers to envision what their condominium may look like in the Broadway.

The Astor, which features one bedroom and one and a half bathrooms, is ideal for single professionals or young couples, while the Gershwin will be aimed at families or those seeking a larger condominium home.

The Broadway, once completed, will feature 20 stories and 90 residences, all of which are situated on nearly two and a half acres. Homes will range from one to three bedrooms and penthouse suites are also available.