Partnership Gains Alamo Colleges 40,000-SF Building Plus Land

By Camelia Bulea, Associate Editor

A new partnership deed between Port San Antonio and Alamo Colleges is intended to expand educational programs in aerospace technology in the region. According to the partnership, Alamo Colleges will receive from Port San Antonio a 40,000-square-foot building and almost 30 acres of land near the port’s East Kelly Railport.

This will allow Alamo Colleges to expand its Alamo Area Academies program and accommodate more students on the St. Philip’s Southwest Campus in future years, according to the San Antonio Business Journal. In return, Alamo Colleges will provide specialized training to current and future workers at Port San Antonio, valued at $5.1 million.

For more than a decade, Alamo Colleges has delivered high-quality aerospace technology education to Port San Antonio’s employees through customized programs at Boeing, Kelly Aviation Center, StandardAero and Chromalloy, according to a press release by Alamo Colleges.

The new partnership is going to take Port San Antonio’s success to another level in the coming years. At the moment, there are 14 businesses that employ 5,000 workers and generate $1.3 billion in economic activity. If all goes as planned, Port San Antonio will be able to support an additional 8,000 industry jobs and add $1.5 billion to the region’s annual economic activity.

Next year, Port San Antonio will undergo some extensions in order to grow its built space. The project will open 150 acres dedicated to the development of future air-served facilities. According to plans, the project will be completed in the spring of 2012.

In other real estate news, VIA Metropolitan Transit was awarded a $15 million grant to invest in a Westside Multimodal Transit Center, which will offer access to regular bus and taxi services, access to Amtrak and the proposed Lone Star Rail commuter service. The project will be developed in two phases: the first one, already funded, will include the renovation of the Great Northern Railroad depot building and the installation of on-street bus amenities. Phase II of the project will involve the acquisition of six additional properties just east of the depot to accommodate the new transit structure, according to a company news release.

Photo credits: alamo.edu