Holt Cat’s new headquarters off Loop 410 is both a nod to its 85-year history and a look at the San Antonio-based company’s future.
More than 200 of the construction equipment dealer’s employees have moved into the three-story, Class A office building since December. The 84,000-square-foot building off Loop 410 and East Southcross includes amenities for employees and environmentally friendly features.
Holt Cat President and Chief Administrative Officer Corinna Holt Richter gave the Business Journal a tour of the $24 million building. The exterior is framed by a steel and glass structure that is accented by limestone mined from a local quarry — a nod to the the Texas Hill Country.
“We wanted the building to be contemporary, but we also wanted it to be a tribute to our history and roots here in San Antonio,” Richter said.
The new headquarters enables employees who worked at separate buildings on the company’s 140-acre campus to be under one roof with room to grow. In addition to traditional offices, there are open work spaces, multiple conference rooms equipped with smart televisions, a fitness center, a high-tech cafeteria, an outdoor patio and walking trails lined with the company’s antique equipment.
“We have a lot of huddle rooms and spaces that bring people together,” Richter said.
Built in the early 1940s, Holt Cat’s campus predates Loop 410 by at least 18 years. The headquarters now faces the highway with separate entrances for cars and 18-wheelers and some of the company’s equipment is on display as roadside industrial art.
Looking to the future, Holt Cat has added energy-saving features such as a 130-kilowatt rooftop solar system, tinted windows, a smart air conditioning system and LED lighting.
Holt Cat Vice President of General Services Tony Shedrock oversaw the headquarters project, which was viewed as a long-term investment into southeast San Antonio and the company’s employees. There were 18 months of design work and planning before the June 2016 groundbreaking, while construction lasted another 18 months. Holt Cat looked to its own customers for the project.
RVK Architects was tapped as the design firm, while Pape-Dawson Engineers Inc. did the civil engineering. Hooker Contracting Company Inc. built the new Loop 410 entrances, truck delivery area and retention pond. Joeris General Contractors Ltd. was general contractor for the headquarters building.
Illa Gaunt was art consultant for the building’s interior. Kate Kingman was the decorator for CEO Peter John Holt’s office, while Hannah Ozburn was the decorator for Richter’s office, the executive lobby and conference room. The end result, Shedrock said, was well-lit and modern office spaces with subtle design features that acknowledge the company’s products and surroundings.
“We wanted our people to feel like a team and for our building to feel like a home,” Shedrock said.
Founded in 1933, Holt Cat sells, rents and services Caterpillar machines, engines, generators and trucks in a 118-county territory that stretches from the Red River to the Rio Grande.
San Antonio city leaders voted in 2015 to give the new Holt Cat headquarters a 100 percent tax abatement for the next 10 years based on the company’s investment for the construction project, in addition to keeping jobs in San Antonio. At the time, Holt Cat was considering moving its corporate headquarters to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where it has gained a considerable amount of business over the years.