The View at Helotes Creek, the newest event center in Helotes, showcases stunning hill country views with modern state-of-the-art facilities. Many Helotians may not realize the event center was born out of the fierce determination of a local family-owned business.
Over the years, the Parker family launched and expanded its legal services business. However, for owners Thomas and Cynthia Parker the road to ongoing success was built on courageously pivoting their corporate mission based on unanticipated market changes.
During an interview with family matriarch Cynthia Parker this summer, Helotes News discovered The View at Helotes Creek’s unique origin story.
Shortly before the international pandemic hit, the Parker family broke ground on a new facility off Scenic Loop in Helotes. The new building, based on designs taken from a fire station in Colorado, was built to house their family-owned company Parker Judicial Services, a business providing specialized services to help law firms prepare for trial.
Not surprisingly, the project experienced significant delays in construction as a result of COVID.
The family joined forces to see the project through to completion despite the challenges. Parker remembers her late mother would lovingly make hand-sewn masks for the builders.
After its completion, the new facility sat empty as the majority of their employees had moved to remote work. As rates of COVID diminished and many were returning to the office, the family discovered their employees preferred working from home.
On any given day Parker remembers only four employees being physically present in the facility. Rather than sell, she researched the schedule of possible uses based on the property’s zoning classification with the city of Helotes. She was pleased to discover an event center was among the allowable uses for the property.
“I saw an empty building with employees working virtually,” said Parker. “I asked myself, what do I want to do? What do I love? My wheels started turning!”
Soon based on extensive collaboration and family support, the concept for The View at Helotes Creek was born.
Her research began as their daughter and her fiancé began wedding planning. Parker pulled from the network of event vendors she had developed for the legal company’s corporate events over the past 20 years.
With her son running the judicial portion of the business, she realized that she had a unique opportunity to focus full-time on the new event venue.
“I want to leave something for my children and grandchildren,” said Parker. “I want to be remembered for bringing people together by celebrating life via an event center.”
The building located on 21 acres is environmentally conscious with irrigation from septic and cisterns. Maintaining the property even with xeriscape landscaping is a full-time job, and great effort has been made to meticulously prepare the facility to offer a state-of-the art modern venue for special events.
The building’s architect took the original concept of a fire station and modified it to embrace the look and feel of the Helotes hill country.
“We’re honored to be in Helotes and proud of our Parker family name,” she said. “We are committed to preserving the unique character of the Scenic Loop hill country with our event venue.”
This value led the family to take the adjacent property off the market recently as most buyers were interested in multifamily homes. Another potential buyer wanted to build a garage to store company trucks. Parker says they want to protect the natural hill county aspect of the property and do not want it turned into shopping or apartments.
Understanding the tenacity of the Parker family begins with the origins of their legal company almost 35 years ago.
Patriarch Thomas Parker found himself unemployed in 1989. After searching want ads in the local newspaper, he found a job listed for legal services with no experience necessary. Soon he was working as a courier delivering legal documents. With hard work and determination he climbed the ranks becoming a manager.
After gaining experience over several years with three legal services companies, Thomas quite last job in 1994 to launch his own company. He believed could provide better services than his past employers who ironically were now his competitors. However, the road to success was paved with some major setbacks.
Seeing the failure of other legal service companies, Thomas asked vendors if they would come to his company if he could deliver a superior level of service. With a list of 28 potential vendors, he started Judicial Services only to discover most of his new customers had backed out. One month later the new company began to gain traction when it received a 48-unit request from its first client. As a result, the business survived and began to thrive by meeting a unique niche in the legal service market.
Years later Cynthia left her job with the federal government on her 40th birthday to join the family business. Inspired after attending a Tony Robbins seminar, Unleashing the Power Within, she realized it was up to the family to maintain focus, take the next step and expand the business.
“Tony’s program says success is like walking across a path of hot coals,” remembers Parker. “Soon we became a family of fire walkers.”
Their son, James, joined the family business as a court reporter, interpreter and videographer in 2014. Today he serves as the CEO allowing his mom to focus full-time on the new event venue.
“Our family is experienced in pivoting and enduring because we’ve grown organically by expanding our portfolio over the past 30 years,” said Parker. “We are committed to meeting and exceeding client expectations while taking care of our employees.”
For more information on booking your next event at The View at Helotes Creek, email [email protected]