Developer's Rising Star Beneficiary of $11.2M Loan

The Silverado Theater's reality is, in fact, coming about because of the loan, Jeff Knowles of Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP's Houston office, tells GlobeSt.com. Lenders just aren't lending for theaters these days, he says.

John Santikos, a well-known San Antonio theater owner and retail developer, used the 58,200-sf, fully leased Century Plaza in the city's south central submarket and 117,500-sf Embassy Plaza in the southwest sector as collateral. The capital is being deployed to the 64,000-sf Silverado Theater, which broke ground in February on 10 acres of a 25-acre tract. The theater is the cornerstone for 80,000 sf of entertainment, retail and restaurant venues that could break ground in late summer at the intersection of Loop 1604 and Bandera Road. UCR's San Antonio office holds the leasing assignment.

The 95%-leased Embassy Plaza, built in 1986, is in line for a 15,000-sf expansion that should start in late July or early August, Dan Briggs of Santikos Investments confirms to GlobeSt.com. Architect Beaty & Associates of San Antonio is fine-tuning the expansion plan. A general contractor has not been selected. Similarly, there has been some talk about renovating 32-year-old Century Plaza, but nothing has been decided as yet.

The Silverado Theater, ticketed for a December opening, is Santikos' first undertaking since he jumped back into the theater business last year, paying Knoxville, TN-based Regal Cinemas for properties he developed decades ago. In the mid-1980s, he sold his theaters to Portland's Act III chain, which merged four years ago with Regal.

The 10-year loan to cover the Silverado Theater's construction was secured through JP Morgan Mortgage Capital Inc., a conduit lender for Holliday Fenoglio Fowler. "There were some challenges to the deal," Knowles says, "but the properties do very well."

Embassy Plaza, situated at the intersection of US Highway 281 and Bitters Road, has a tenant roster that includes Tuesday Morning, Sherwin Williams, Laser Quest and the Embassy Skate Center. Century Plaza, positioned at the crossroads of Military Drive and Interstate 35, has HB Zachary, Eye Masters and Sherwin Williams on its tenant roster.