A vacant office building in Hemisfair, empty since a new federal courthouse opened in 2022, will soon house a university from Mexico.
City Council recently approved a 10-year lease agreement with the Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México (UNAM-USA) for a building that used to be the former Adrian Spears Judicial Training Center.
Located at 643 E. César E. Chávez Blvd., the building is also known as the Confluence Exhibit Hall and Building 300.
UNAM will pay $1,000 in rent annually and the university will continue offering Spanish language courses at no cost to at least 40 city employees per semester. Those courses generally cost $875 per 10-week session.
The move signals renewed activity at the federal complex amid ongoing speculation about plans for the historic buildings from the 1968 HemisFair event and UTSA’s Institute of Texan Cultures.
UNAM is not moving far from its current location, a two-story building between Civic Park and the Tower of the Americas. The university plans to move sometime next year.
It’s a two-minute walk from there to the City-owned former federal judicial complex, including the John H. Wood Federal Courthouse and the adjacent Spears Center. The City acquired the buildings through a land swap when a new U.S. Courthouse was built at 214 W. Nueva St.
Hemisfair Park President and CEO Andres Andujar said he is excited about UNAM’s decision to relocate within the downtown park.
“UNAM is an asset to the Hemisfair District and our city because of UNAM’s educational and cultural contributions to our community,” he said. “This action delivers on the Cultural Sustainability goals included in the Hemisfair Master Plan approved by Council in 2012.”
The 16th-century UNAM has had a presence in San Antonio since 1976, its first site outside of Mexico. UNAM occupied space at Trinity University and later the Mexican Consulate before moving to Hemisfair 38 years ago.
At the recent council meeting, UNAM Rector Leonardo Lomelí Vanegas said through a translator that the university provides an important connection to the United States. “Eighty years later, we realize that there’s a very important link with Mexico and the United States, and that is [through] education, because that is what makes the link stronger.”
The building UNAM is leaving at 300 Hemisfair Way features an auditorium, library, computer lab, 22 classrooms and several offices.
A city spokeswoman said there are no plans yet for the building but that the vision for Hemisfair Park involves future development in the area. She said university leaders were aware the school would need to relocate and the Spears Training Center was a good fit since it was previously used for training and instruction.
Building for sale
An adjacent San Antonio Federal Building West, located east of the courthouse structure at 727 E. César E. Chávez, is owned by the U.S. Government and houses Social Security Administration offices.
The U.S. General Services Administration is taking steps to sell the building.
A parking lot across the street from the federal office building sits next to land owned by Pearl developer Oxbow.
The space UNAM will occupy in the former training center is smaller than its current building and needs work, said Laura Carreon, assistant to the director at UNAM.
The university is planning renovations of the building, including painting, removing carpet and reconfiguring walls, she said. The work, mostly funded by the institution, is expected to start in January.
The university’s primary function is to provide Spanish language lessons and has over the years expanded to provide programs in citizenship, General Educational Development (GED) classes, English language lessons, and Spanish oral language proficiency testing.
Councilwoman Teri Castillo said the city is “lucky” to have UNAM.
“As a window to Mexican culture, UNAM in San Antonio has made available the resources of its parent institution in Mexico City,” Castillo said. “It is a two-way bridge for the flow of ideas and knowledge serving as a link between diverse public and private universities and organizations, and the different schools, institutes and centers of UNAM.”
Starts and stops
Meanwhile, in the northwest zone of Hemisfair, a proposed housing development is off the table. The developer, Area Real Estate, which built The ’68 apartments in Hemisfair, terminated its lease in February due to financing challenges.
“Hemisfair is optimistic about the opportunity to reconsider this critical site as its value is increasing with the emergence of impressive projects in the district and beyond,” Andujar stated.
Construction is ongoing in several areas in and around Hemisfair, including the second phase of Civic Park and improvements to South Alamo Street and La Villita.
Zachry Hospitality is building the Monarch Hotel and Post Lake Capital Partners and Trube Land Development are working on a Market Street mixed-use residential project.
