Retail stays tight, office is improving and the Hill Country keeps growing
- Retail space is scarcest in the Hill Country. Metro retail vacancy was 4.1%. In Kendall County it was 2.4% and in Comal County 2.6% (Partners Retail Q2 2026).
- Office vacancy depends on who is counting, but the I-10/1604 gateway beats the metro. Metro office vacancy was 15.2% (Cushman & Wakefield), 16.9% (Partners) or 17.6% (CBRE). Cushman's Far Northwest submarket was 9.2%.
- Small-bay flex is steady. Flex vacancy was 8.0% to 8.7%, with asking rents of about $12.49 to $12.85/SF NNN across all three brokers.
- People keep moving north and northeast. From 2020 to 2025, Comal County's population grew 27.8% (Community Impact, Apr 2026) and Kendall County's grew 20.3% (Community Impact, Apr 2026).
How to read the numbers. The big brokerages measure different building sets: office inventory is 34.3M SF at CBRE, 43.7M SF at Partners and 50.3M SF at Cushman & Wakefield, so their vacancy rates differ. Where they disagree, all of them are shown.
San Antonio by property type (Q2 2026)
Industrial
| Q2 2026 | CBRE | Cushman & Wakefield | Partners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacancy | 10.3% | 11.1% | 11.3% |
| Net absorption (quarter) | 252,059 SF | 357,376 SF | 873,488 SF |
| Avg. asking rent | $8.52 NNN | $8.83 overall net | $9.22 |
| Under construction | 2.9M SF | 2.70M SF | 4.0M SF |
Sources: CBRE (Jul 9 2026), Cushman & Wakefield, Partners (Aug 1 2026).
- The sources disagree on absorption. Partners' figure is more than three times CBRE's.
- They disagree on the Northwest submarket too. CBRE shows −145,000 SF there, Cushman +131,075 SF and Partners +443,658 SF. All three put Northwest vacancy at 7.1% to 7.6%.
- Notable Q2 deals: JCB signed a 198,000 SF lease at 10120 Fischer Rd (South). Amazon bought the vacant 560,500 SF Rosillo Creek Industrial Park Bldg 1.
- Construction is concentrated in manufacturing, including JCB's 1.0M SF plant and Toyota's 500,000 SF Rear Axle facility (CBRE).
Flex (small-bay / office-service)
| Q2 2026 | CBRE "R&D/Flex" | Cushman "Office Service/Flex" | Partners "Flex" |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacancy | 8.6% | 8.0% | 8.7% |
| Asking rent (NNN) | $12.59 | $12.49 | $12.85 |
| Net absorption | −25,000 SF | −45,103 SF | +238,700 SF |
Sources: the same three industrial reports.
Office
| Q2 2026 | CBRE | Cushman & Wakefield | Partners |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacancy | 17.6% | 15.2% | 16.9% |
| Net absorption | −43,950 SF | +283,787 SF | −85,357 SF |
| Avg. asking rent (full service) | $29.76 | $27.97 | $29.54 |
| Under construction | 30,400 SF | 0 SF | 60,000 SF |
Sources: CBRE (Jul 9 2026), Cushman & Wakefield, Partners (Aug 11 2026).
- The sources disagree on the direction of absorption. Cushman says positive; CBRE and Partners say negative.
- Northwest submarket vacancy: 16.8% (CBRE), 16.7% (Cushman), 15.1% (Partners).
- Far Northwest (Cushman only): 9.2% vacancy, +306,704 SF absorbed in Q2, $40.41/SF asking.
- The only project underway (Partners): The Rock Medical and Research Pavilion, 60,000 SF in Northwest, 58% pre-leased.
- Medical office (Matthews, Jul 2026): 12.27% metro vacancy, $29.99/SF asking and 80,128 SF under construction. Matthews names Far West/Westover Hills and Far Northwest as demand hotspots, with leasing concentrating along Loop 1604 and I-10.
Retail
Partners is the only free Q2 2026 retail source we found (Partners Retail Q2 2026, Aug 17 2026), so these figures have no second source to cross-check.
- Metro: vacancy 4.1%; net absorption 94,972 SF, down from 405,772 SF in Q1; asking rent $19.27/SF NNN, down 2.5% YoY; 833,294 SF under construction, about 59% pre-leased; 162,514 SF delivered.
- Notable leases: Crunch Fitness, 42,763 SF at New Braunfels Marketplace; Marshalls, 24,000 SF at Windsor Park Center. Notable sale: DRA Advisors bought La Plaza Del Norte (222,076 SF).
Hill Country focus
| Submarket (Q2 2026) | Vacancy | Net absorption | Under construction | Asking rent NNN |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kendall Co. retail | 2.4% | +15,068 SF | 70,271 SF | $22.85 |
| Comal Co. retail | 2.6% | +13,396 SF | 62,700 SF | $28.16 |
| Northwest SA retail | 4.6% | +3,639 SF | 270,034 SF | $15.74 |
| Comal Co. industrial (Partners) | 11.3% | +239,313 SF | 311,343 SF | $12.14 |
| Comal Co. industrial (Cushman) | 10.0% | +82,543 SF | 51,000 SF | not split out |
Sources: Partners Retail, Partners Industrial, Cushman Industrial. Cushman's largest Comal deal was a new 173,447 SF lease at 2633 Goodwin Ln, Bldg A.
Boerne / Kendall County
- Population: Kendall County grew from 44,568 (2020) to 53,289 (2025), per Census data reported by Community Impact and confirmed on FRED.
- Medical: Baptist Health System's first Boerne acute-care hospital plus a medical office building, on 23 acres at I-10 and SH-46, was scheduled to begin construction in 2026; no completion date had been announced (Community Impact, Dec 2025). Wellness Plaza at Boerne, 37,000 SF off Herff Rd with ground-floor retail and two floors of medical office, targeted a spring 2026 groundbreaking and a 2027 opening (Community Impact, Sep 2025).
- Retail: Scenic Loop Retail, three shell buildings totaling 30,572 SF at 31905 I-10, is scheduled Oct 2026 to Sep 2027 (TDLR filing TABS2026014737). Buc-ee's is capped at a 54,000 SF store and 100 fueling stations under the October 2025 revised agreement (Community Impact, Dec 2025).
Fair Oaks Ranch / Leon Springs / I-10 corridor
- Lemon Creek Ranch (118 acres, Bexar County side): H-E-B Fair Oaks is adding a $2M, 4,465 SF True Texas BBQ, scheduled for construction June to September 2026 (MySA, Feb 2026). The plan includes a hotel, apartments and retail (MySA, Oct 2025).
- Gateway office: the Far Northwest office figures and the WestRidge at La Cantera sale (258,031 SF, Perform Properties to SageView Partners; Cushman) are the nearest institutional data points.
New Braunfels / Comal County
- Population: 163,608 (2020) to 209,166 (2025), +27.8% (Community Impact).
- The Neue: $27M, 72,000 SF of condos with ground-floor commercial downtown; broke ground Sep 29 2026, completion expected Nov 2027 (Community Impact).
- Latitude: 65,000 SF of for-sale office/warehouse bays (45 units) at 710 N. Walnut Ave; groundbreaking expected Q2 2027 (Community Impact).
- Corridor Commercial Center Phase 2: 35,000 SF of flex/retail, spaces from 1,800 to 11,900 SF (Community Impact).
Appraisals
- Bexar County 2026 commercial values rose 5.99% while single-family values fell 0.11% (San Antonio Report, Apr 2026).
What it means: CRECO's view
Opinion, not data
For owners
- Hill Country retail and medical owners have pricing power. With Kendall and Comal retail under 3% vacant, renewals are a time to hold firm on rent. Price against local comps rather than metro averages, because metro asking rent slipped 2.5% YoY.
- Small-bay flex is the most balanced product. Well-located flex is a reasonable hold for buyers who value stable occupancy.
- Office owners face a split market. Owners in the Far Northwest gateway compete in a much tighter market than the metro headline suggests. Owners of older Class B space elsewhere should budget for concessions.
- Check your appraisal. Bexar commercial values rose about 6% while homes were flat. Review your 2027 notice carefully and consider protesting.
For tenants
- Hill Country retail and medical tenants should start early. Begin searches 9 to 12 months ahead: little space is vacant, and new medical space is not expected before 2027.
- Office tenants have leverage almost everywhere except the gateway submarkets. Ask for TI, free rent and flexible terms.
- Industrial users above 100,000 SF have the most choice. CBRE shows 15.9% vacancy in the 100K to 250K SF size range versus 6.1% below 50K SF.
Sources
- CBRE Research, San Antonio Industrial Figures Q2 2026, Jul 9 2026.
- CBRE Research, San Antonio Office Figures Q2 2026, Jul 9 2026.
- Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat San Antonio Office Q2 2026.
- Cushman & Wakefield, MarketBeat San Antonio Industrial Q2 2026.
- Partners Real Estate, San Antonio Industrial Q2 2026, Aug 1 2026.
- Partners Real Estate, San Antonio Office Q2 2026, Aug 11 2026.
- Partners Real Estate, San Antonio Retail Q2 2026, Aug 17 2026.
- Matthews, San Antonio Medical Office Q2 2026, Jul 21 2026.
- Community Impact, Comal County sees 27.8% population increase from 2020–25, Apr 8 2026.
- Community Impact SATX-BNE newsletter, Apr 1 2026 (Kendall County population).
- FRED / U.S. Census Bureau, Resident Population in Kendall County, TX, updated Mar 27 2026.
- Community Impact, Building Boerne: Baptist site work begins, Dec 19 2025.
- Community Impact, Buc-ee's, Baptist Health System and more coming to Boerne, Fair Oaks Ranch, Dec 31 2025.
- Community Impact, Wellness Plaza at Boerne, Sep 4 2025.
- Texas Dept. of Licensing & Regulation, TABS2026014737 “Scenic Loop Retail”, registered Mar 11 2026.
- MySA via Yahoo News, H-E-B Fair Oaks True Texas BBQ expansion, Feb 2 2026.
- MySA via Yahoo News, Lemon Creek Ranch, Oct 29 2025.
- Community Impact, Developers break ground on The Neue, Sep 30 2026.
- Community Impact, GBMC Communities to develop 6.5-acre office, warehouse space, Sep 15 2026.
- Community Impact, Corridor Commercial Center's Phase 2 underway, Jul 29 2026.
- San Antonio Report, 2026 Bexar County property values, Apr 10 2026.