This is the time of year Goodwill San Antonio stores are preparing for the annual Halloween shopper rush, supplying secondhand items for the perfect upcycled costume.
Next year at this time, the nonprofit known for its thrift stores and work training programs also plans to be moving into a repurposed downtown office building called the Opportunity Center.
Now under construction, the Opportunity Center is a former medical office building at 343 W. Houston St. being transformed into a 154,000-square-foot employment training facility and new headquarters for Goodwill San Antonio.
Once complete, the building will replace a nearby training center — almost 20 times smaller in size — and allow Goodwill with the capacity to provide job skills and placement by a magnitude of about 700%.
“We estimate that it’ll be close to 1,500 people a year that are coming into the building for training and education,” said Carlos Contreras, president and CEO of Goodwill San Antonio.
The nonprofit founded in 1945 started on the project a year ago after purchasing the former Rosa Verde Tower and parking garage from CHRISTUS Santa Rosa in 2024.
Following asbestos abatement, crews have dismantled the existing walls and begun the work to create a new front entrance on Houston Street, a corner cafe and three-level staircase, and build out classrooms, meeting rooms, break areas and office spaces.
The first through third levels are framed and sheetrock is going in on the upper floors. At 50 years old, the building also required a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system that’s already been installed.
The San Antonio-based firm RVK is the architect on the project and Skanska is the contractor with Project Control of San Antonio providing project management.
More than costumes
Goodwill San Antonio is one of 150 independently operated nonprofit Goodwill organizations across the U.S. and Canada.
Retail is not their shared mission. Helping people build skills and removing barriers to employment so they can take care of themselves and their families is, Contreras said.
In San Antonio, more than 15% of the city’s adults, or about 1 in 7, do not have a high school diploma or equivalent, according to census data, and about 38% earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level. Meanwhile, employers struggle to find qualified workers.
Goodwill San Antonio runs training centers and academies through its 24-county region. The 7,800-square-foot center in downtown San Antonio is the largest.
It offers programs for medical assistants, nurse’s aides and pharmacy technicians as well as training for manufacturing and construction jobs.
“We have the capacity to launch up to four new training pathways within this building that we’re not offering today,” Angelique DeOliveira, chief mission services officer at Goodwill San Antonio, said on a recent tour of the construction site.
“Right now, we’re doing the due diligence to determine what are the highest needs that employers have, so we can determine what those are going to be,” she added, but they are considering programs for dental assistants and HVAC technicians.
A waiting list exists for most of its medical and health care programs, she said.
“The secret to our success is our classrooms are small, and we provide substantial support, address all of the needs that adults have when they’re trying to … obtain a credential,” Contreras said. “The goal is a sustainable wage.”
Goodwill is a prime contractor under the city’s Ready to Work program, which was in the crosshairs in recent weeks as City Hall faces a budget crisis. Contreras hopes the community will continue to support the program.
Goodwill is also an employer, offering its students jobs and fitting work schedules around their classes and personal needs.
Its programs are open to anyone who wants to advance his or her career. There’s no income requirement and Goodwill works to accommodate people with disabilities.
The new building also will provide room for Goodwill to house other nonprofits that can assist clients with related needs, including disability support, vocational rehabilitation, financial empowerment and mental health.
Repurposing and reusing
While the nonprofit is prepared to use its resources to cover the cost of the $60 million Opportunity Center, Contreras said, a capital campaign is also underway, only the third such fundraising effort in its 81 years. The first was to raise funds to open a store and a second to build the existing training academy.
The latest project is “an opportunity to do what our stores have the benefit of doing, which is repurposing and reusing,” Contreras said.
Virtually vacant in recent years, the building is located on the west side of downtown next to the San Pedro Creek Cultural Park and the Alameda Theater, and near where a downtown baseball stadium and other new development is planned.
The location is also ideal for people who rely on public transit, Contreras added, as VIA Metropolitan Transit starts work on the Green Line and Silver Line advanced transit systems.
