Land Acquisition

For the first time, full implementation of the master plan will require land beyond the bounds of the original 600-acre campus. It is essential that new land be acquired in order to support UTSA's growth. There are currently contiguous vacant plots of land to the south and west of the university, but these plots will not remain undeveloped for long because growth at UTSA and the surrounding region is creating demand for new housing and commercial developments. It is important for UTSA to initiate and finalize acquisitions as soon as possible in order to ensure that the university's growth is not constrained by a lack of available land.

A distinction should be made, and has been made in this master plan, between land uses which are crucial to the core mission of the university and those which enhance or support its mission. Once this distinction has been established, decisions about what to place on remote sites should be made with this core mission in mind. For example, good candidates for remote sites include housing, parking, and possibly some athletics and recreational uses. The main academic facilities should remain in the heart of campus, but there are opportunities to locate research facilities on remote sites. Lands along the Babcock Road corridor, in particular, should be examined as prime opportunities to facilitate cooperative programs between UTSA and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA).

The following assessments of required land are for estimation purposes only. The specifics of each project will determine the actual land needs, so the needs may vary significantly from the totals shown here. Further, no specific plots of land are identified here as possible acquisition targets, though the preferred proximities of the various plots are indicated.

Parking is one of the largest uses of space on campus, but it is also adaptable to offsite locations. For these reasons, the gap between parking demand and parking availability shown on the master plan should be made up with offsite parking. These lots will be served by shuttles. In the longer term, large off-campus parking sites can also be used for various other types of uses. UTSA will have a deficiency of approximately 600 to 1000 parking spaces when the master plan is complete, depending upon how the proportion of students who have vehicles changes from the current ratio. This will require the purchase of about 15 to 20 acres, again depending upon final need. This land should be sited close to campus, as longer distances will require longer shuttle transit times. However, parking should not take priority over housing or other uses.

As mentioned in the housing section, 5,600 of the 6,200 desired beds can be sited on campus. The remainder of the beds should be located offsite but on land which is near the campus, preferably adjacent to or near areas designated for housing on campus. About 15 to 20 acres will be required for this development. The density of the housing developed will play a large role in determining the amount of land required. Housing is also a potential for a joint development with UTHSCSA.

The Child Development Center is currently located in the southwest corner of campus. As new athletics facilities are built, the number of people present in this area will dramatically increase. For security reasons, the Child Development Center should be located in a more isolated location. A site which is off-campus yet still close by is perhaps ideal; the Child Development Center can then be isolated from campus traffic and noise yet will still be located conveniently for campus users. Five to eight acres, depending upon the number of children to be accommodated, will be required for this center.

As discussed in the next section, a long-term objective should be to move some of the service facilities in West Campus to off-campus locations. The amount of land needed for these uses will vary depending on what facilities are moved. A site of five to fifteen acres will house some to all of the physical plant, receiving, and maintenance functions.