Downtown San Antonio has been a sore talking point for residents and officials alike for years. While the controversial push for a baseball stadium and a basketball arena has sparked hope – and dollar signs – in the eyes of many, those quick to criticize the San Antonio skyline want to know: Why doesn’t San Antonio have more skyscrapers? Turns out, the answer is as complicated as you’d expect.
While perusing public opinion, many are quick to blame the lack of a massive tech presence in the Alamo City (though whether or not that’s true is just as complicated). But there are Fortune 100 companies in San Antonio with a significant tech presence. Both USAA and Valero favored sprawling campuses on the Northwest Side rather than cloud-grazing downtown towers.
In fact, there are examples of tech or software companies that have reshaped skylines in other Texas metros, but these examples are unreliable. AT&T, which also occupied a 15-story building in San Antonio, has decided to ditch its high-rise digs in Dallas, and Meta backed out of its massive lease agreement in downtown Austin…