Monday Musings #57: UT-San Antonio Plants Its Flag at One Riverwalk Place

Who says office towers struggle to find new tenants?

Last week, a few hundred downtown advocates gathered on the garden patio of the One Riverwalk Place office tower for what may be the most important real estate occupancy since the pandemic.

“It’s my honor to welcome you to One Riverwalk Place, the newest home to the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design’s School of Architecture and Planning and the future home of the Institute of Economic Development,” said President Taylor Eighmy, the first of several speakers celebrating the milestone.

You don’t have to be a Roadrunner to appreciate the importance of the university’s continuing Downtown Campus expansion, or its decision to acquire and occupy a 1981-era office tower that otherwise was probably going to remain largely vacant.

It will take a while to connect all the pieces, but university leadership has left its footprints and fingerprints all over downtown now. The original Downtown Campus footprint was limited to the far-western edge of downtown and the now-relocated Institute of Texan Cultures at Hemisfair. 

UT-San Antonio’s Downtown Campus now includes the Southwest School of Art campus and One Riverwalk on the San Antonio River, and the School of Data Science and soon-to-open College of AI, Cyber and Computing on opposite sides of San Pedro Creek.

The ITC, meanwhile, has found a temporary new home in Frost Tower. 

“I now ask that you look around you — 18 stories, 265,000 square feet, all in the heart of downtown San Antonio. This space is more than a building; it’s a visible, unmistakable symbol of our university’s continued growth and commitment to the city’s urban core,” Eighmy said. “This space reinforces our belief that the most powerful learning doesn’t always happen in a classroom — it happens when students are in proximity to professionals, institutions, and the challenges that define the real world.”

The working environment available to students in the urban core is a leading reason to expand downtown, although student housing poses the next big challenge. Eighmy said he envisions 6,000 students downtown by the end of 2026.

“For architecture and planning, that means being embedded in the urban core where interdisciplinary collaboration naturally occurs,” said Dr. Heather Shipley, provost and Senior Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. “Here, our students and faculty can work alongside engineers, designers, artists, business leaders and community partners to address the real challenges facing modern cities—from resilience and sustainability to housing, infrastructure and equitable development.”

One Riverwalk was originally designed by Marmon Mok, the architecture firm that occupied the tower’s top floor and was its longest-running tenant. It seems fitting to see it now become an architect incubator in proximity to the city’s leading firms.

That also goes for the student engineers.

“Enrollment in Klesse College and the School of Architecture and Planning is higher than it has ever been, and I attribute those numbers to the steadfast faculty members who play the most important role in these students' lives,” said Dr. Eric Brey, Dean of the College, “and looking ahead, these faculty members will help to create stronger connections to our neighbors, all in the spirit of ensuring that our students graduate career-ready. Our move here is just the beginning of what is to come, and I am proud to be a part of creating the best in architecture and planning opportunities for our Roadrunners.”

It will be interesting to see the impact of the School of Architecture moving to a more central and activated sector along the river downtown, not to mention more elevated spaces with citywide views from its offices and studios. The school could use a prominent name to amplify the generosity of Bill and Margie Klesse, who put their name on the college. The school with a new location also has a recently-appointed director.

“One of my colleagues recently commented that since arriving in August, I have been speed-dating San Antonio’s architectural and creative community,” said Dr. Michelangelo Sabatino, the new Director. “While this may be true, I still have many more of our community to meet. Many of our friends here with us this evening are truly our next-door neighbors within walking distance.”

Sabatino will appear as a guest on our bigcitysmalltown podcast in the coming month. He’s a breath of fresh air, with ideas for building partnerships and collaborations that will happen much more easily now that the school is in the heart of the city.

The closing speaker on Wednesday evening was Andrea “Andi” Rodriguez, Centro San Antonio's Vice President of Cultural Placemaking, who is also on the School of Architecture faculty.

“It was nearly a decade ago when I sat in a room with other downtown evangelists and Dr. Eighmy to discuss the benefits of downtown investment – what would happen if we brought more of our students into the urban core? It was a huge gamble – but this investment Dr. Eighmy, Margie and Bill, and the UT-San Antonio team have made in our city has altered our course forever,” she said.

 “We need to cultivate more young dreamers and doers like Dr. Eighmy, Dean Brey and Dr. Sabatino to move our city forward. As a member of the Centro San Antonio team, as an alum and current professor in the architecture department, I can’t imagine a better space in which to dream about our city’s potential for beauty and purpose, boldly connecting place and people.”

There is still available floor space at One Riverwalk. University leaders are interested in recruiting some engineering and architecture firms to complement the academic programs.

Downtown San Antonio is going to undergo profound change and development in the next five years. The challenge is for elected leadership to work more effectively with the private sector, with developers, and with UT-San Antonio, which holds the promise of being the single most transformative force in the coming years.