By Edmond Ortiz
A city commission is gearing up to examine renderings for the San Antonio Missions’ planned downtown stadium, and for complementary new development that project partners say will help to reinvigorate the western part of the central business district.
What is happening
The Missions, the local minor league affiliate of the San Diego Padres, released on March 26 a series of long-awaited conceptual drawings for a facility, which will be primarily the baseball franchise’s new venue, but also be flexible enough to accommodate a variety of community events.
Designated Bidders, owners of the Missions, announced last year their intent to move the team from 6,200-seat Wolff Stadium on the city’s West Side, where the team has played since 1994. The new, state-of-the-art 7,200-seat ballpark will be bound by Kingsbury, North Flores and Camaron streets and new development on the western edge of downtown alongside San Pedro Creek Cultural Park.
Designated Bidders is collaborating on the new ballpark with local developer Weston Urban, which has acquired several parcels supporting and surrounding the multi-event facility site over the years under the entity Camaron Development LTD.
The city’s Historic and Design Review Commission will meet at 3 p.m. April 1 to examine the conceptual designs for the new stadium as well as three proposed developments that will sit next to the ballpark site:
* 14-story multi-family tower called The Yard Residences at 327 W. Martin St. with a parking structure;
* an eight-story hotel called The Yard at 323 W. Martin; and
* a 27-story residential tower at 309 W. Travis St. The latter project includes a parking garage, and rehabilitation of the historic San Fernando Gym, which was home to local boxer champion Jesse James Leija’s boxing gym.
HDRC recommendations will go forward to the City Council for consideration.
What project officials are saying
Representatives for the Missions and Weston Urban have said that the stadium-centered redevelopment project will revive its surrounding neighborhood, called Downtown West.
“This community gathering place, in tandem with the adjacent mixed use residential developments, is truly the culmination of well over a decade of public and private effort to breathe vibrancy into the San Pedro Creek Culture Park,” Randy Smith, a Designated Bidders board member and principal of Weston Urban, said in a statement.
Smith said he and fellow project leaders want to continue working with stakeholders such as UT San Antonio, the city, and neighboring residents to create new recreational and commercial opportunities in the immediate area.
“It’s been such a team endeavor,” Smith said in a statement. “Between UTSA’s campus expansion, Frost Tower, the ballpark and our residential developments, (San Pedro) Creek is now an unparalleled place for all San Antonians to live, work, learn, and maybe most importantly, play. This is what our kids want. This is what our kids need.”
Missions board Chair Bruce Hall said project leaders are finished with designs and after the HDRC completes its review of plans, the team and its partners will move forward with development financing, and scheduling construction of the stadium.
“We’re very pleased with how the design is progressing and we look forward to hearing the commission’s feedback and proceeding to the next step to finalize a project that we are sure will serve our community for generations to come,” Hall said in a statement.
Wider perspectives
Some city leaders and project officials have previously suggested that a new, bigger Missions ballpark put together with the San Antonio Spurs’ planned new arena in the Hemisfair could collectively create a new synergy in downtown and beyond.
It was revealed in a January City Council meeting that a new organization, San Pedro Creek Development Authority, would own the new ballpark and issue bonds to leverage revenues from the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, where the stadium would be located.
Missions officials estimated that bonds could yield $126 million in HSTIRZ income to pair with a $34 million contribution from the team to build the multi-purpose facility, with plans to open the complex in time for the beginning of the 2028 Texas League season.
The Missions and Weston Urban have said the $1 billion worth of hospitality and multi-family residential development, proposed for construction next to the stadium, would be realized across four phases through 2031.
Some city leaders had voiced worry that the demolition of the nearby former Soap Factory Apartments, where property will be consumed by the planned redevelopment, would displace the residents who have lived in those creekside apartments. The city was due this spring to create a displacement impact assessment.
Project partners, meanwhile, have promised that the new stadium will result in various community benefits, including public green spaces, quality wages for ballpark workers, and shared use by the city, county and San Antonio Independent School District.
Private development details
As for the stadium and the envisioned private developments, city staffers are recommending approval of the aforementioned projects, save for some stipulations, mainly archaeological investigations of the proposed construction and renovation sites, and features to assure quality environmental control between the creek and the new structures.
According to project representatives, Populous, the Missions stadium design firm, is taking inspiration from elements of existing, iconic landmarks located in and around downtown, including San Pedro Creek, Pearl, the Riverwalk, and nearby established businesses such as The Friendly Spot and neighboring enterprises in Southtown.
Populous has designed new construction and renovations for numerous sporting venues and other public facilities worldwide; locally, the firm designed the expansion and improvements that took place at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center a decade ago.
Local architectural firm Page is designing the 27-story apartment high-rise; Dallas-based firm Merriman Anderson Architects is designing The Yard Residences and The Yard Hotel.
