By Edmond Ortiz
The city of San Antonio is proceeding with the creation of a resident-driven committee that will help to offer ideas on key aspects of a proposed downtown sports and entertainment district, which would be anchored by a new San Antonio Spurs arena.
Planning towards the Spurs’ scheduled departure from its current home, Frost Bank Center, Bexar County leaders are negotiating agreements where the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo hope to realize its vision of an expanded, upgraded arena/Freeman Coliseum site for permanent rodeo-related uses.
Project Marvel update
City Council voted 10-1 Aug. 6 to form a District Community Advisory Committee, which will provide recommendations to the council on the allocation of funds resulting from a $75 million community benefits pact.
Spurs ownership agreed to the community benefits deal to advance the sports and entertainment district, also known as Project Marvel.
Additionally, the committee will help to develop a process for public input on the new district. Each of the 10 council districts and the mayor will be able to appoint three people to the committee, which will meet once a month and report to the council every six months, starting this December.
The advisory committee will also have meetings open to the public, and will be responsible for convening issue-based community and stakeholder groups to get input on a specific issue.
According to city staff, ideally, the advisory committee should have representation from San Antonio’s artist communities, labor organizations, small businesses, and neighborhood groups.
While the council voted 10-1 to pass the resolution to create the committee, there was discussion about going steps further toward ensuring the panel closely engages the community, and having representatives from council Districts 1, 2 and 5 – those that contain and surround downtown – chair the group.
Suzanne Scott, former general manager of the San Antonio River Authority, recommended that the city follow the model implemented for the San Antonio River Oversight Committee to make sure the District Community Advisory Committee works closely with city staff, consultants and all stakeholders.
“This transformational project will benefit from consistent, diverse stakeholder voices,” Scott added.
Kathy Vale, a District 1 resident and a community volunteer, urged the city to create an advisory committee that has broader oversight over implementation of the entire sports and entertainment district.
Vale has been working with fellow District 1 resident Cindy Munch and Graciela Sanchez, Esperanza Center’s executive director, to serve as what Vale called “citizen consultants,” offering the city free advice and perspectives held by the public at-large.
“As the scope and complexity of this project has evolved, so too must the city’s commitment to keeping the public informed, engaged, respected and meaningfully involved in every major decision,” she added.
In addressing the council, Vale touched upon concerns that many residents have had about the Project Marvel, including funding mechanisms for the Spurs’ arena, and perceptions that the city and the Spurs are rushing the project with little transparency or community engagement.
Vale pointed to the narrow voter passage last November that authorized Bexar County to raise its hotel occupancy and vehicle rental taxes, whose revenues will be partially sourced for arena construction.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones agreed that the city must do all it can to increase public engagement during negotiation talks that the city and the Spurs will have regarding the community benefits deal, and details surrounding development of the arena itself.
There was no formal talk Aug. 6 about Jones’ efforts outside of City Hall to convince the council to call an election regarding the council making a $489 million commitment on the city’s behalf toward Project Marvel.
While those monies would not come from residential property or sales taxes, Jones had issued several statements over the prior week, saying San Antonio voters deserved a voice on the financial commitment and about the community benefits pact.
Jones had hoped to press council to schedule a special election for Nov. 3, but time is running out as the state has an Aug. 17 deadline to call an election this fall.
Despite pushback from Spurs ownership and a few council members, Jones is still having “listening sessions” to field residents’ questions and concerns about Project Marvel. Those sessions are set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 6 at Doris Griffin Senior Center, 6157 NW Loop 410; 10 a.m. Aug. 7 at the Northeast Senior Center, 4135 Thousand Oaks ; and 6:30 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Hardberger Park Urban Ecology Center, 8400 NW Military Drive.
Frost Bank Center/Freeman Coliseum update
Bexar County Commissioners unanimously voted Aug. 4 to empower County Judge Peter Sakai to negotiate an initial agreement that breaks down how hotel occupancy and rental car tax revenues will be applied toward Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum improvements.
The Spurs’ existing lease at the East Side arena expires in 2032, and the team plans to open the new downtown arena in time for the 2032-2033 NBA season.
County voters backed using those specific venue taxes to support making Frost Bank Center and the Freeman Coliseum facilities the anchors of a year-round district for rodeo-related activities led by San Antonio Livestock Exposition, the organization behind the annual San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo.
But rodeo officials have openly voiced worries about the county entertaining other private development ideas for the arena/coliseum grounds, such as a proposal that Hunt Development Group and Lincoln Property Co. submitted last fall in response to a solicitation made by the county’s Coliseum Advisory Board.
The two Texas-based development entities have envisioned up to 3.6 million square feet of new hospitality and commercial space, housing, and rodeo-centric facilities across the arena/coliseum grounds and the nearby city-owned Willow Springs Golf Course.
Rodeo officials said such private development plans are incompatible with their plan to preserve and enhance the arena/coliseum grounds in order to continue developing Texas youth through year-round outreach and educational experiences rooted in agriculture and western heritage.
“Unfortunately, the (Hunt/Lincoln) plan under consideration today is not what voters approved,” Cody Davenport, CEO of SALE, said in a video posted Aug. 1 to the rodeo’s social media channels.
“It would dramatically reduce the space needed for livestock shows and competitive agriculture events. That means fewer opportunities for youth that these fairgrounds were built for, and that’s why this moment matters – to share our mission.”
A rendering of proposed new buildings, and improvements and expansion of existing structures at the Frost Bank Center/Freeman Coliseum grounds. (Image courtesy of San Antonio Livestock Exposition)
Kathleen Vale speaks as Graciela Sanchez, Esperanza Center executive director, looks on at the Aug. 6 City Council meeting. (Photo courtesy of the city of San Antonio)
