Conversion work on the empty IBC Centre Tower I in San Antonio is scheduled to begin in July, kicking off a major repositioning of the former office building into a JW Marriott-branded hotel. The project carries an estimated conversion cost of $164 million.
According to reporting from the San Antonio Business Journal, the existing 280,000-square-foot office tower, now owned by IBC Bank, will be transformed into a 300-unit hospitality property. The reprogramming shifts the building from office use to hotel operations while making use of the existing structure.
Project plans also leave room for potential expansion. The bank may add an additional structure adjacent to the tower that would accommodate parking, a rooftop pool and other amenities, though those elements have not yet been confirmed as part of the initial work.
HKS Architects & Designers and SWA Group are leading the design efforts for the conversion. Hotel operations will be overseen by Dimension Hospitality, which also manages the Embassy Suites by Hilton San Antonio Riverwalk Downtown, adding another branded flag to the company’s local management portfolio.
Construction and conversion activity at IBC Centre Tower I are expected to run for nearly two years, with completion targeted for the spring of 2028. Once delivered, the project will bring several hundred new hotel keys to the San Antonio market through the JW Marriott brand.
The office-to-hotel conversion is part of a broader wave of hospitality investment in the city. Zachry Corp. recently opened The Monarch San Antonio, a 200-key property located in Hemisfair, adding new room supply in that district. Separately, Trestle Studio is working toward reopening a revamped Sítio El Tropicano this fall following a years-long closure, returning another hotel asset to active use.
