JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
Work has begun on a new $54 million exchange shopping center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston after JBSA leaders and Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials broke ground on the facility Oct. 13.
The new 210,000-square-foot exchange center will be constructed across from and replace the current exchange building, which is located at Henry Allen and Winfield Scott roads and built in 1971. AAFES is funding 94 percent of the costs for construction of the new exchange.
Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials expect the new shopping center to be completed in spring 2020. Once completed, the new exchange center will be twice the size of the current one, which underwent a remodeling in 2010.
“Today marks the beginning of what will become the heart of the Fort Sam (Houston) community – a new exchange shopping center,” said Anna Iosefo, AAFES central region vice president, during the groundbreaking Oct. 13. “It’s been more than 40 years since Fort Sam has had a new shopping center and this is a long time coming.”
The new shopping center will include a main exchange, mall and an expanded food court and a PXtra store, providing a convenient one-stop shopping experience for customers. Eight restaurants will be housed in the new food court, including Starbucks, Sarku Japan, Freshens, Subway, Charley’s, Boston Market, Qdoba and Arby’s.
The mall will also include a dental clinic and pharmacy, 10 kiosks and 12 convenient services.
Iosefo said it has taken 10 years of planning to lay the groundwork for the new exchange center, which includes a working partnership between AAFES and both the 502nd Air Base Wing and the U.S. Army Medical Command.
“It is a privilege to partner with the 502nd Air Base Wing and the U.S. Army Medical Command to make this shopping center a reality,” Iosefo said. “The entire military community wins when we work together and this new shopping center will be proof.”
Brig. Gen. Heather Pringle, 502nd ABW and JBSA commander, said the groundbreaking of the new exchange center was a special moment for JBSA-Fort Sam Houston.
“I really want to thank AAFES because they have been a great partner in tailoring this future exchange to JBSA-Fort Sam Houston,” Pringle said. “It is going to be tailored to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines who live here, go to school here, work here, shop and play here.”
Pringle said AAFES provides contributions to the JBSA community, with two-thirds of exchange earnings supporting Army Child Development Centers, youth programs and fitness centers, Air Force outdoor recreation programs, school lunches for service members’ children overseas and combat uniforms.
“This is going to be great and we love what AAFES and the exchange brings to our community,” she said. “This is a beginning of a great adventure and I can’t wait to get started.”
Rear Adm. Rebecca McCormick-Boyle, Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command commander, said an exchange is a vital part of the military community.
“No matter where we go around the world when we go on a base, it’s like, ‘OK, let me check out the exchange,’” McCormick-Boyle said. “That’s what we do. It is really a centerpiece of who we are and what we do.”
McCormick-Boyle thanked the AAFES employees who work at the exchange and said she is looking forward to the opening of the new exchange center.
Exchanges at JBSA locations have a huge economic impact on the local military communities they serve, providing goods to 263,000 shoppers, paying out $116 million to 151 businesses and contributing an annual payroll of $22 million for 1,161 employees, 9 percent of whom are veterans.