Cambridge Development Group is a real estate development company that entered the San Antonio market in 2018, initially to build a food manufacturing plant for a client. Since then, they have developed over one million square feet of industrial, manufacturing, and distribution space in San Antonio, as well as office buildings and an affordable housing project.
We spoke with T. Michael Scott, principal at Cambridge, to learn more about the company’s entree to the market and future growth plans.
Tell us a little bit about Cambridge and your presence in the Greater San Antonio region.
We came to San Antonio in 2018 as a part of a national search for a new manufacturing plant for a food company that is the world leader in sous vide cooking. We were attracted to the friendliness of the city, the accessible workforce, and the positive business environment. Since then, we have built over 1,000,000 square feet of Industrial/Manufacturing/Distribution space in San Antonio, all of which is fully leased. We have also developed the two most spectacular office buildings in South Side San Antonio, and Brooks has relocated its headquarters there. Finally, we have taken over the development lead of an affordable housing project which had become behind schedule and over budget. We like solving challenging and complex problems for our clients.
Since 1983, your company has developed over 8 million square feet of commercial real estate and acquired an additional 22 million. How do you see Cambridge growing in the future and continue positively impacting our Greater San Antonio region?
We love doing business in San Antonio and plan to add to our one million square feet. After bringing Cuisine Solutions from the Washington, D.C. area and Bakerly from the New York City area to San Antonio, we worked with greater:SATX to rationalize the needs of a major Korean manufacturer making parts for the Electric Car industry and built a complex high precision plant for their first entry into the San Antonio market. We can build for the tenant or build on our own balance sheet and provide a lease to the tenant. Mayor Ron Nirenberg, greater:SATX and Brooks have all been supportive, and we look to bring tenants and jobs from our portfolio to San Antonio and help make the most of the good seeds that the community has sown to bring businesses to the region.
What attracted you to entering the market? How would you like to see the San Antonio region continue to grow?
In 2017, Cambridge was tasked with performing a site search for a long-time client, Cuisine Solutions, based in northern Virginia. The client needed to add capacity, but their customer insisted that the new plant be west of the Mississippi. Cambridge performed the search across 27 states (the size of western Europe). Using filters such as interstates, land costs, utility costs, extreme weather, labor laws, available labor, specialized vendors, and available flights to the D.C. area, we settled on Dallas, Phoenix and San Antonio. We then focused our attention on opportunities in those areas. Working with the greater:SATX team and with Brooks Development Authority we understood the unique opportunity for our client to become a part of a community here in San Antonio.
The continued growth of San Antonio is going to require focus on job training. The tremendous growth in construction and manufacturing has produced a strain on labor markets. Smart growth will need to take traffic and utilities (especially water) into consideration. We believe that the community is investing in these areas, especially at Brooks.
Why did Cambridge decide to invest in greater:SATX?
We recognize the value of the service provided by greater:SATX. Cambridge benefits greatly from the ability to leverage a partnership with a group of professionals dedicated to bringing investment opportunities from all over the world to the San Antonio region. The team actively generates contact directly with the user, which is the best way to bring our talents to bear. greater:SATX brings a level of exposure to our properties that no single brokerage could ever provide.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Cambridge believes in the vision of Leo Gomez and his team at Brooks and are proud to be participants in the manifestation of that vision to bring jobs and opportunities to an area of San Antonio that was passed over for many years. Since our first visit to Brooks in 2017, we have seen a tremendous amount of new investment in education, manufacturing, retail, commercial and residential sectors resulting in the creation of over 2,000 jobs. Brooks Development Authority has created a community on the south side that will allow hundreds of families to experience a live-work-play lifestyle that would otherwise not have been possible. Like a caring neighbor, we have provided two of the largest solar parking installations anywhere in the city and won the national award for an environmentally sustainable plant with Cuisine Solutions.
You can learn more about Cambridge Development Group at www.cambridgeus.com.