Economic activity is growing around Loop 1604 and Marbach Road and local government and business owners are working to meet demand.
When El Tequila Restaurant and Bar opened at Marbach Road and Loop 1604 six years ago, there was very little in the area. “We saw a good opportunity, there was nothing around with Mexican food,” said Cristian Huerta, one of the restaurant’s owners and managers.
There was a nearby gas station and a couple of fast food restaurants, but since then more businesses, including a QuikTrip and a Home Depot, have opened around the Far West Side intersection.Now, Target is potentially planning to build a 150,000-square-foot store at the same intersection, 800 feet from El Tequila, according to state records. Economic activity is growing in the area and local government and business owners are working to meet demand. Restaurants are expanding, Bexar County officials are trying to improve traffic flow and data shows housing demand is strong. Target took up headlines when Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation records showed the Minnesota-based company was considering a $21 million store that would start construction in April and be completed by March 2027.“I can tell you we are pursuing the opportunity to reach guests in the San Antonio Marbach area but at this time, we’re not at a point where we can share any new store plans,” Monroe said in an email. Growth around the Marbach Road and Loop 1604 area has been ongoing, said Art Reinhardt, Bexar County’s engineer and director of public works. His work includes permitting and tracking developments in unincorporated areas of the county.Local business owner Huerta of El Tequila said he has seen economic growth in the area during that time, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic hit in 2020, but El Tequila quickly adapted, serving customers with takeout options and maintaining quality dishes. The restaurant has kept those customers and business has kept coming its way. Customers come from SeaWorld and other communities to San Antonio’s west. Business is so good at the intersection of Marbach Road and Loop 1604 that El Tequila is expanding. Huerta said that the restaurant can seat 120 people. Some days, lines are out the door, so the owners are building a new location a half-mile down Loop 1604 to have more space and serve more customers.“This helps us, we get a lot of business from that,” he said.In July, homes were on the market in San Antonio for an average of seven months, according to the San Antonio Board of Realtors. Homes were snapped up in that part of the county in an average of 81 days or less than three months, and were slightly cheaper than the citywide average. Reinhardt is focused on improving traffic flow. Marbach Road stops less than a half-mile from the proposed Target site. Bexar County is hoping to partner with a local development, Champions Park, to connect Marbach Road to Grosenbacher Road and communities further west of U.S. Highway 90 and State Highway 211 going toward the city of Castroville, which is in neighboring Medina County.Bexar County’s Precinct 1 is the fastest growing of the county’s four precincts. Alamo Ranch, nearby to the north, is the fastest growing part of the county. That kind of growth has kept the county afloat — total tax property tax revenues grew due to new development, even though property values actually fell. More and more people are moving into the county’s unincorporated areas, Reinhardt said, where there are less zoning or land use restrictions than the city. It’s a change from a more traditional rural-urban divide.articles this month. That’s right — we’re committed to providing free, fair journalism for all. But without donor support, our nonprofit newsroom can’t do its job to inform and empower your community. Are you in? Your donation of any amount will help keep articles like this one accessible to all San Antonians.Jasper Kenzo Sundeen covers business for the San Antonio Report. Previously, he covered local governments, labor and economics for the Yakima Herald-Republic in Central Washington. He was born and raised...
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