By Edmond Ortiz
The week leading up to Halloween was a busy, sobering one for San Antonio City Council, which discussed a continuously shrinking scope for Project Marvel, and agreed to float the city’s smallest bond package in more than 20 years.
A smaller vision for Project Marvel
Recent discussions at City Hall regarding Project Marvel – a private/public initiative to develop a downtown sports and entertainment district – had already taken on lowered expectations.
While the San Antonio Spurs remain committed to building a new downtown arena to anchor the Hemisfair-based district, city officials have spent weeks talking about ways to reduce mounting costs tied to other aspirational Project Marvel elements, such as an improved Alamodome, an expanded Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, a new convention center hotel, and a landbridge connecting the Hemisfair area with the Alamodome site.
One by one, city officials have nixed or downgraded such project elements, starting by ditching the new convention center hotel, and reconceptualizing the landbridge as more of a standard pedestrian and cyclist bridge.
The latter, city leaders have said, could be realized as a landbridge if they were to secure an adequate amount of federal money. Additionally, local officials have removed from the picture an $85 million Alamodome parking garage due to tight finances. However, consultants who recently analyzed the city’s downtown parking program determined the downtown area has no public parking shortage.
But on Oct. 28, city officials told the City Council that rising construction and labor costs and economic uncertainty will prompt them to plan a convention center expansion and Alamodome upgrades that are smaller than what they and the Spurs had envisioned upon first unveiling the Project Marvel concept in fall 2024.
Instead of an initially estimated $1 billion overhaul of the Alamodome, the city is now eyeing a $125 million, 10-year capital improvements program for the near-East Side stadium.
The city’s decision to downsize the Alamodome program comes as the NCAA decided not to name San Antonio as a finalist for any of the Men’s Final Fours that will happen between 2032 and 2036. The Alamodome last hosted a Men’s Final Four in 2025, and is scheduled to host the 2029 Women’s Final Four.
While San Antonio has hosted five Men’s Final Fours, going back to 1998, and NCAA officials have noted positive experiences visiting San Antonio, discussions between the city and the NCAA have pointed to a need to enhance and modernize the 36-year-old dome in many ways.
The city scaling back on its vision for a renewed Alamodome also comes amid reports that the San Antonio Missions ownership group is worried about increasing construction costs, which could impact its plans to build a new downtown minor league baseball stadium. The Missions’ owners this past summer pushed back the new ballpark’s opening date from 2028 to 2029.
The city, for its part, is going forward with an $850 million convention center expansion, including a 26% increase in contiguous exhibition space, and a 53% increase in ballroom space. However, the convention center will receive only 136,000 square feet of new exhibit space, and not the 200,000 square feet that local officials originally envisioned.
According to city staff, a successful convention center expansion would put San Antonio into the nation’s top 10 largest convention centers. No expansion means that San Antonio could fall significantly behind the other major metropolitan Texas cities when it comes to competing with them for event bookings.
A project financing zone (PFZ), which counts on hotel occupancy tax revenue, would fund the convention center expansion and the Alamodome upgrades.
Bond proposals for 2027
City Council took action Oct. 29 to ensure that voters will have a say in how a portion of the city’s next proposed bond package will affect Hemisfair-area road infrastructure to support Project Marvel development.
The city plans to hold a May 1, 2027 election on a $442 million bond, which is the limit of the city’s current bonding capacity where new projects can be financed without a property tax hike. It is also much smaller than the $1.2 billion package that voters approved in 2022.
The 2027 bond would contain $35 million worth of infrastructure proposals, such as the aforementioned bicycle/pedestrian bridge, upgraded access points around I-37, improvements on Durango Boulevard between I-37 and South Alamo Street, an extended Nueva Street, and other lighting and utility upgrades. The city anticipates the state covering 80% of costs to build a new bridge, and to improve access points along I-37.
Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones proposed having the project finance zone, estimated to have $1.9 billion, fund the Project Marvel-related infrastructure upgrades. Council rejected that proposal in a 6-4 vote with one abstention. Jones then moved to have the Project Marvel-targeted infrastructure improvements as a standalone bond proposal, separate from the main bond package. Council voted 6-5 against that attempted amendment.
Jones earlier in October announced three tri-chairpersons who will guide the citizens committees tasked with engaging community stakeholders to develop recommendations for the total bond package.
In recent council meetings and town halls, Jones has reiterated her concerns about including the sports and entertainment district-centric proposals in a larger bond package that she prefers be concentrated on such basic matters as long-overdue road and drainage improvements in older parts of town.
City leaders have also acknowledged it will be hard to float a bond in a time of inflation, escalating living expenses such as healthcare and utilities, and other economic challenges.
“I remain committed to a bond that is focused on economic development and works to address our city’s historical inequities,” Jones said in a statement.
What are the next steps?
City officials will soon start the solicitation process ahead of the convention center expansion, and issue a request for proposals to redevelop the former Wood Federal Courthouse into a music venue.
Additionally, negotiations are still ongoing between the city and UT San Antonio on the purchase of the former Institute of Texan Cultures property, where the new Spurs arena will be built.
The city is also expecting to receive a report about how to improve connections between the downtown area and near-East Side neighborhoods. Additionally, the city’s sports and entertainment district community advisory committee will convene soon.
