Once a bustling military base in San Antonio, Brooks has transformed under the leadership of Leo Gomez into a community where residents can work, live and shop without having to leave the South Side.
Gomez, the CEO at Brooks, drew inspiration for the former base’s redevelopment from suburban developments like The Woodlands — an environmentally conscious neighborhood — in Houston and Mueller — a mixed income and mixed use community — in Austin, going as far as using the same planning firm.
“We engaged them. We engaged them and we got them to believe that what they did in Austin and what they did at the Woodlands just might be possible over the next 30 to 50 years on the South Side of San Antonio,” Gomez said.
On this week’s episode of “bigcitysmalltown,” host Bob Rivard interviews Gomez, whose business leadership in San Antonio includes roles with different chambers of commerce, Toyota and the San Antonio Spurs, on his vision for the Brooks community.
Rather than lean into Brooks’ history as a science and research base when he got the CEO gig 12 years ago, Gomez said he opted into community-based development for a part of town that the had city historically neglected when it came to infrastructure and bond projects.
By initially leveraging capital investments, and later being part of a city bond package, Brooks attracted dozens of big-name retailers and grocery stores, over 30 restaurants, the Mission Trail Baptist Hospital, green spaces and varied housing options.
The area is also largely walkable, due to the construction of 10-foot-wide “meandering” sidewalks throughout the Brooks campus.
Gomez also prioritized creating jobs while acting environmentally conscious in his redevelopment plan for Brooks.
Six foreign companies have manufacturing companies located in the area, and Gomez expects the number of jobs to go from 3,000 to 5,000. While at the helm, the number of trees in the area has also increased, going from 1,000 to more than 3,500 under Gomez’ leadership.
Brooks also invested in the development of an arboretum on the Southeast Side of San Antonio that is expected to be partly open to the public by 2028 and partnered with SAMMinistries to build about 100 affordable housing units a quarter mile north of its campus, currently under construction.
“Our emphasis is to make sure that the people who get jobs at Brooks and around Brooks can afford a home at Brooks,” Gomez said. “I am delighted with the obvious fact that more and more people are not only working at Brooks, but living at and around Brooks versus those early days when people drove down, got off the highway onto the [military] base, and at the end of the day, drove off and took their paychecks with them.”
