There’s no doubt that 2025 will go down as one of the most memorable years in university history. After all, it was the year that two powerhouse institutions — UTSA and the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio — became one world-class university.
But that doesn’t mean the newly unified university will be resting on its laurels in 2026. In fact, more big plans and momentous developments are in the works this year as UT San Antonio blazes a path to become one of the nation’s leading public universities.
Here are five projects to watch as students, faculty and staff return to campus in the new year.
Blanco Hall
Blanco Hall, UT San Antonio’s new residence hall, is currently welcoming its first students. The new living-learning community expands the university’s housing options for first-year students and sophomores on the main academic campus, providing space for nearly 600 students.
Located at the intersection of Barshop Blvd. and Tobin Ave., Blanco Hall spans over 155,000 square feet and offers a mix of single- and double-bed units, as well as an open lobby, lounges, multipurpose rooms, laundry facilities, spaces for study and collaborative learning, and other amenities.
The facility also will feature specialized educational resources, including a kitchen that will serve as a shared nutrition, research and practice laboratory, supporting UT San Antonio’s program in dietetics.
The Institute of Texan Cultures
The Institute of Texas Cultures (ITC) is re-opening in its new home at Frost Tower, 111 W. Houston St., on Thursday, Jan. 29.
UT San Antonio staff have been working closely with architects, contractors, designers and museum professionals to “reimagine” the ITC for a new era. The refreshed museum promises to be more modern, interactive and deeply engaging — connecting history and innovation in a way that allows ITC visitors to discover something that resonates with their own experience.
Upon opening, the ITC’s main gallery exhibition, “Common Threads,” will focus on four themes: home and family life, heritage and traditions, arts and culture and community. “Common Threads” will include multiple voices and experiences, acknowledging that culture is fluid, living and evolving while reflecting that each generation helps shape the future like threads in a tapestry, said ITC head curator Bianca Alvarez.
One Riverwalk Place
Since 1979, the Valdez Institute for Economic Development at UT San Antonio has been dedicated to creating jobs, growing businesses and fostering economic development throughout South Texas. The institute has long provided professional business advising, technical training, research, market analysis and strategic planning for entrepreneurs, business owners and community leaders.
For most of its years, the Valdez Institute extended those offerings at the university’s Downtown Campus. After Spring Break, however, the institute is moving its operations to One Riverwalk Place, UT San Antonio’s latest addition to its downtown footprint, located at the corner of Convent and N. St. Mary’s streets. From this location, the Valdez Institute will be poised to provide more convenient support to the city’s downtown business community.
In fall 2025, One Riverwalk Place also became the new home for the Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design’s School of Architecture and Planning.
As time goes on, One Riverwalk Place will give UT San Antonio’s academic programs and support services a downtown home where they can leverage more frequent interactions with businesses, industry professionals and community partners in San Antonio’s urban core.
San Pedro II
Nearly two-and-a-half years after its groundbreaking, the $130 million, 180,000-square-foot San Pedro II building is tentatively scheduled to open in spring 2026.
San Pedro II is planned as a world-class facility designed with business, innovation and career preparation in mind. It will offer students immersive experiential learning and professional development opportunities. The new building also will allow the university to draw on broad opportunities to address San Antonio’s pressing workforce needs by training students for careers in interdisciplinary fields such as cybersecurity, AI, computing and data sciences.
San Pedro II is located on Dolorosa St. just across from UT San Antonio’s San Pedro I building situated along banks of the San Pedro Creek Culture Park. San Pedro I is home to the College of AI, Cyber and Computing and the National Security Collaboration Center.
Both buildings anchor the university to San Antonio’s prospering high-tech corridor and serve as a catalyst for economic and community investment in the San Pedro Creek area. The construction of both facilities has been part of a larger placemaking effort to connect interior classrooms and meeting spaces with outdoor venues, public art and greenspaces along the linear park, creating an ecosystem that supports students and the community.
Training Center
The Convocation Center will remain the home for UTSA’s basketball and volleyball games going forward, but soon the 50-year-old facility will be a little quieter during weekday mornings and afternoons.
That’s because a new $35 million, 53,000-square-foot training center will support the daily operations of UTSA’s men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball programs.
The new two-story facility, which is expected to be completed this fall, will be located next to the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence on Barshop Blvd. The training center is part of a partnership with Bexar County and the City of San Antonio, each of which invested $5 million in the project.
The training center will feature two full-sized NCAA practice courts, locker rooms and a team lounge for each program, a weight room, an athletic training and hydrotherapy space, team meeting rooms and coaches’ offices for each of the three programs. It is expected to increase the university’s competitive edge in recruiting and retaining the nation’s best student-athletes and coaches in men’s basketball, women’s basketball and volleyball.
