San Antonio’s Pearl is looking to turn its weekend buzz into a seven-day engine.
Silver Ventures, which owns the mixed-use district, is planning to add 20 retailers on its eastern edge, where surface parking lots now sit between Avenue A and Highway 281, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. The square footage of the expansion was not specified.
The move is part of a broader effort to deepen the project’s retail bench and capture more consistent daytime traffic.
CEO Bryant Ambelang told the outlet that the development, which is dominated by food-and-beverage tenants, hasn’t yet reached the “critical mass” of retail tenants needed to sustain steady foot traffic throughout the week, even as its popular weekend farmers market reliably draws shoppers.
Closing that gap between retail and restaurants is central to the next phase of development, according to Ambelang. He framed the expansion as a deliberate recalibration, one aimed at building stronger diversified consumer offerings.
Retail alone won’t carry that load. Silver Ventures is pairing the retail expansion with a fresh injection of office space nearby. Its Oxbow Development Group subsidiary is advancing plans for 140,000 square feet of offices as part of the Isleta project on East Josephine Street, according to the outlet. Executives say persistent demand for the nearly full office buildings has prompted them to incorporate workspace into a broader multifamily concept.
The strategy is straightforward, as more workers on-site should translate into more consistent spending at ground-floor retailers, according to the publication.
Ambelang told the outlet that the mix of tenants is also key, as the team is targeting local merchants, including early-stage concepts and craftspeople, rather than national chains. He pointed to existing tenants such as high-end suit maker Limatus as a model, along with similar small start-up retailers he has seen in smaller markets.
Construction on the expansion is slated to begin in January 2027.
— Eric Weilbacher
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