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BUILDING
DEDICATION

Development of the
New BCMS Headquarters

A Long Journey with Long Term Value

By Bernard T.Swift, DO, Real Estate Committee Chair

The Bexar County Medical Society sold its headquarters on West custom building. Pros and cons were discussed at length for each.
French Place in 2004, primarily because it needed offices more cen- The decision was made to initially undertake efforts to look for an
trally located for its members. The funds from the sale of the build- existing office building that could be retro-fitted for our needs, ac-
ing were rolled into an investment account under the BCM Library cepting the premise that we would need a little extra space for future
Association. In the interim, BCMS moved into an office building expansion, and also look for a parallel investment vehicle (additional
on I-10, with the expectation that a permanent home, owned by space to lease out).
the Society, would be forthcoming at some point in the future using,
of course, the funds from the earlier sale. Many sites were toured within the circumscribed area, all fitting
the initial criteria. We actually made offers on two buildings after a
Shortly after the move to the I-10 office building, and with the careful study of each. For one reason or another, the two offers and
expiration of a 10-year lease on the horizon, a small group was all the other buildings visited were deemed impractical, too expen-
formed to explore our options. The first issue was to select the best sive, too old (thus requiring major renovations), or just inappropri-
area in the City for what had clearly become a geographically diverse ate for the Society’s community image. Much time was spent on this
physician population. A survey was conducted as to where physi- endeavor because preparing and then offering a contract on an ex-
cians both lived and practiced, and it was determined that the north- isting building requires significant up-front due diligence before
west I-10 corridor, out as far as Loop 1604, would be preferable and even signing an offering earnest money contract.
most convenient for the majority of members.
Then, about 2 1/2 years ago, an opportunity to buy the ideal sized
Besides choosing an area within which to relocate, other options tract of land came available. It was in a great, visible location within
to consider at the time included whether to buy (1) an existing the geographic area we had identified, easily accessible from all areas
building, or (2) a vacant tract of land on which to build our own of town, and at a reasonable price. Thus began the timeline of what

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