SAN ANTONIO – The San Antonio City Council is expected to discuss a proposed Spurs arena downtown on Friday, linked to the city’s plans for a sports and entertainment district at Hemisfair.
The council meeting is slated to begin at 1 p.m. and will be streamed in this article and the video player above. Delays are possible; if there is not a livestream available, check back at a later time.
The new Spurs arena would be the linchpin of the proposed district, referred to as Project Marvel. Included in the plans for the district would be:
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Expanding the Henry B. González Convention Center
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Building a new convention center hotel
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Renovating the John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse into an events venue
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Upgrading the Alamodome
In a letter to City Manager Erik Walsh, Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and the rest of the council, Peter J. Holt, the team’s chairman and managing partner, outlined investment details from the Spurs for the arena and some of the potential surrounding development. \
>>READ: San Antonio Spurs commit $1 billion for downtown arena, detail proposed investment
Investors and future development partners “are willing to invest over $1 billion in this effort,” Holt said in the letter obtained by TheTXLoop Friday morning.
The numbers are the first time hard figures have been laid out for funding connected to the arena from the Spurs.
Friday’s discussion comes several months after city council members OK’d the start of negotiations around the district. In April, the city, Spurs and Bexar County signed a memorandum of understanding reflecting shared efforts to bring Project Marvel to completion.
However, the arena is only a small part of the multi-billion-dollar proposed district, and funding it remains complicated.
One method would be the use of a “Project Finance Zone (PFZ), which city council approved in May.
The PFZ allows the city to collect a portion of hotel-related state tax dollars within three miles of a “convention center complex” over 30 years.
Another is a $175 million tax proposal for Bexar County voters to consider in November. Other funding models under consideration include arena lease revenue and ground leases for nearby property development.
The new city council includes some members who expressed concern during the recent election about how the city would proceed with its involvement in Project Marvel.
What we know about Project Marvel, the plan for a new Spurs arena and entertainment district in downtown San Antonio
During a series of two-day community planning workshops held in each of the 10 city council districts, East Side residents expressed apprehension about the project’s goals.
Some residents pondered Project Marvel’s necessity, citing concerns such as the failed growth materialization around the Spurs’ current home on the East Side, the Frost Bank Center.
Holt, in the letter, said the organization would be committed to “making the case” to the community for the project’s viability.
Ortiz Jones, during an interview with TheTXLoop on Thursday, referring to some of the figures, said the numbers need to make sense for the community.
“Folks are asking, ‘Can we get some of that concession money? Can we get some of that parking?’ I think in folks’ minds it’s not just how we pay for it, but again, how does the community benefit,” she said.
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