Translucent white globes hung briefly in the air before dropping into San Pedro Creek and drifting down the waterway as UTSA leaders and local officials marked the groundbreaking for its newest building downtown.
The Wednesday afternoon event along the San Pedro Creek Culture Park signaled the start of construction on San Pedro II, the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Careers building at 622 Dolorosa St.
Construction on the 182,000-square-foot building is expected to be completed in October 2025 and open to students in January 2026.
“This building represents a strong tether between UTSA’s academic community and San Antonio’s business community,” said UTSA President Taylor Eighmy.
“Speaking on behalf of all of UTSA leadership here tonight, we are eager to spur San Antonio’s economic development through internships, career-focused learning, all that contributes to the upward mobility of our students, their families and our entire city.”
The new building is situated across the creek from San Pedro I, which opened in January and houses the School of Data Science and the National Security Collaboration Center.
The new $130 million facility will provide interdisciplinary programs in business, engineering and sciences, said UTSA officials, and expand on academic programming and research collaborations among programs in both buildings.
“The second building will amplify what we’ve started in this building as well as extend it because the new building … has a lot of cybersecurity programming and a lot of our innovation and entrepreneurship programming,” said David Mongeau, founding director of the School of Data Science.
In remarks to a crowd of people gathered creekside for the groundbreaking, Eighmy said it was fitting that the event was held during San Antonio Startup Week, “a dynamic showcase of innovation, collaboration and growth,” he said. “It cannot be more fitting for the collaborative ecosystem that we’re building right here.”
Among the downtown residents, business people and city and county officials attending the event were four members of the university’s Student Government Association.
“We’re just trying to have a presence down here and find any other student to connect with,” said Karli Robertson, an environmental science major who attended along with Paul Gonzalez, Daniel Rounds and Ryan Faidley.
“I’m really impressed by how integrated UTSA is with the San Antonio community,” said Faidley, the deputy speaker of the senate. “We have right here so many leaders that are coming together to support this university.
“There’s no other campus I’ve been to that engages and connects with the local community that much, and I really like the university for what it does.”
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said San Pedro II would contribute to expanding San Antonio’s presence in certain industries.
“It’s going to make our city a bright spot on the map when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship, new technology, cybersecurity — all the things that we want to be a leader in this world,” he said.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai lauded the efforts of his predecessor, Nelson Wolff, who also attended the event, for his work in transforming a drainage ditch into a scenic linear park where UTSA is putting down roots.
San Pedro II will be built on a vacant parcel of land behind the Bexar County Annex building, which also will undergo renovations to make way for the new facility.
Eighmy hinted that the university might not stop with the two buildings on Dolorosa.
“You know, we do own the property on the other side of where San Pedro II is going that I like to call San Pedro III, and we’re envisioning now what might go there,” he said. “So be ready.”
As officials prepared to release the floating globes into the creek for the symbolic groundbreaking, each named an innovator who has inspired them.
Veronica Salazar, chief enterprise development officer for UTSA, said her globe was dedicated to Nina Vaca, a Latina entrepreneur who founded the global tech firm Pinnacle Group.
