Arboretum set for expansion with more land and golf clubhouse

Posted by author February 16, 2025 Golf

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The city’s first formal garden of trees hasn’t opened yet but it’s already growing.

Arboretum San Antonio leaders are in talks to purchase an 18.5-acre parcel of land adjacent to a 188-acre former golf course already designated for the arboretum — and recently told city officials more funding is needed for the project.

The property being acquired for the arboretum includes a former clubhouse, golf cart storage, banquet facility and car parking lot, and unlike most of the existing arboretum property, it is not in a flood plain.

Located on the city’s Southeast Side, the property also provides the arboretum a greater length of frontage road along Southeast Military to build a grand entrance and control over how it’s developed, said founding Arboretum CEO Thomas Corser.

The land is owned by Dan Pedrotti, who also previously owned the Republic Golf Course property before selling it to the Brooks Development Authority in 2022.

Pedrotti had considered developing the land into multi-family housing but changed his mind, Corser said. Combined, the two parcels were last assessed at just under $1 million, according to tax records.

The deal is expected to close in March, he said.

Located at 4226 Southeast Military Dr. along Salado Creek, Arboretum San Antonio is a planned park that is expected to showcase the trees and landscape of South Texas. Brooks leases the land to the arboretum organization.

The project founder is Henry Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor and U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who has visited many of the 41 arboretums in 50 cities across the country.

“We’ve got a lot of parks … but not one that is specifically dedicated to the trees, the species of trees, the promotion of the tree canopy [and] addressing that in a climate change environment,” he said.

Since that time, Cisneros and the Arboretum board have been fundraising for the project and hired Denver-based landscape architect Sasaki to come up with design plans. Initial cost estimates for the project are between $30 million and $50 million.

In 2023, Bexar County commissioners approved $7.3 million in funding for the arboretum. The City of San Antonio has so far contributed $400,000 for a tree nursery.

At a recent City Council briefing, Cisneros said the organization also would look to the city for $25 million in additional support.

“I’m very, very, very excited about this,” he said. “As we go forward, we’ll be wanting to talk to you … especially as you begin thinking about the content of the bond issue in 2027, we hope that we can persuade you that there’s a little piece of that that needs to be reserved for this purpose.”

In October, the firm hosted a series of public input sessions to help determine what people want the arboretum to offer.

Corser told City Council members recently that distinct elements from three concepts will be designed into the arboretum based on that feedback, with a proposed final plan to be presented in April or May.

Many people favored a concept known as “Wild San Antonio,” he said, which has features focused on restoration, education, exploration, nature and immersion, including things like trails, accessible play areas and cabins.

The plan now is to select “features out of all three [concepts] … to combine into one which makes the best of all worlds,” Corser said.

In December, the board of Arboretum San Antonio, led by Chairwoman Evangelina Flores, selected Adriana Quiñones to replace Corser.

The retired marketing executive appointed founding CEO in 2022 continues to work with Quiñones during the transition.

Prior to her role with Arboretum San Antonio, which began in January, Quiñones was executive director of the Columbus Botanical Garden in Columbus, Georgia, where she ran a capital campaign, increased educational programming and led efforts to complete that garden’s master plan.