By: Madison Iszler | From: San Antonio Express News
City officials are proposing spending up to $250 million on ramps, a pedestrian bridge, parking spaces and intersection improvements to pave the way for a multibillion-dollar downtown sports and entertainment district.
Infrastructure is crucial to officials’ pitch for the district, which could bring thousands more people to the center city to attend games and events, dine and drink, lease apartments and stay at hotels.
The district would include a bigger Convention Center, a renovated Alamodome, a second Convention Center hotel and a reconfigured John H. Wood Jr. Federal Courthouse surrounded by apartments, restaurants, stores and parks — all of which raises questions about how to prevent traffic jams and get residents and tourists in and out of the area smoothly.
It could also feature a new Spurs arena at the former Institute of Texan Cultures site at Hemisfair, located in the southeast corner of downtown.
Voters could be asked in November to approve a bond to pay for between $220 million and $250 million worth of upgrades over five years, with more work proposed over the following 10 years.
“It’s an investment in downtown infrastructure,” City Manager Erik Walsh said during a briefing with reporters.
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Within five years, city officials would work with the Texas Department of Transportation to build a ramp between Commerce and Montana streets to northbound Interstate 37; a bridge to get pedestrians and bicyclists across I-37; a 2,500-space parking garage on a parking lot at the Alamodome with a direct connection to I-37; and an interchange at I-37 and César E. Chávez Boulevard.
They would also widen southbound frontage roads at I-37 and Commerce and Market streets and improve turn lanes and signals at intersections in the area.
Technology would also be part of the puzzle — such as an online platform that would allow garage owners to make spaces available for reservation in advance, direct drivers to underutilized parking options near the Alamo and La Villita and combine event ticket purchases with paying for parking. The city would also build rideshare lots in the district.
City officials said public transportation would be key to alleviating traffic jams in the area. They are working with VIA Metropolitan Transit to promote using planned Silver and Green rapid bus routes and park-and-ride options along those routes, as well as at the transportation agency’s Robert Thompson Transit Station next to the Alamodome.
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Another set of projects would be part of a second phase over years six through 15, including constructing a land bridge to connect the near East Side to Hemisfair, re-engineering Hoefgen Avenue as the northbound frontage road for I-37 and shifting ramps to connect to the frontage road, building another 3,500 parking spaces near the Alamodome, and improving Cherry, Montana and Houston streets.
City officials and executives from Pape-Dawson Engineers and VIA outlined the options to the City Council during a briefing Wednesday.
Some council members said the district proposal would transform the city and make it a more attractive place to live and work, but others said they are concerned city staff haven’t hammered out exact costs. They called the plans rushed, and also pointed to budget woes — the next mayor and council will have to cut millions in spending to keep the city in the black.
“Why do we have to move it so fast right now?” said Councilman John Courage, who's term-limited and leaving office later this month.
“It’s hard for me to bust out the pom-poms like some of my colleagues have when we don’t have any clear financial framework of where we intend to invest dollars,” said Councilwoman Teri Castillo.
Council members have until Aug. 18 to place a bond measure on the Nov. 4 ballot. City officials said the measure could include funding for the first set of infrastructure projects as well as money for affordable housing and improvements in neighborhoods around the district.
The November ballot could also include Bexar County’s venue tax, which is collected on hotel rooms and rental cars and could be used to pay part of the cost of the Spurs arena, upgrades to the Frost Bank Center, and renovations to the Freeman Coliseum grounds.
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City officials also said they are setting up a residential parking permit program that the city would enforce in the Lavaca, King William, Dignowity Hill and Denver Heights neighborhoods around the district.
And they described the financing structure for the Spurs arena, which is expected to cost up to $1.5 billion.
Along with the county venue tax, they are proposing paying for the facility with taxes generated by new development within a tax increment reinvestment zone; money from a “project financing zone” that allows the city to collect the state’s portion of hotel tax revenue generated within three miles of the Convention Center for 30 years; revenue from leasing the arena to the Spurs and leasing other properties in the area to developers; and a contribution by the team.
It remains unclear how much Spurs Sports & Entertainment would kick in — or how much of the bill the city would be willing to foot. Walsh said Spurs executives are in the process of selecting a development partner.
City officials also said they plan to host a series of public workshops focussed on Project Marvel in June and July to give residents the opportunity to ask questions and weigh in.
The San Antonio Express-News broke the news in July 2023 that Spurs executives and city officials were quietly exploring building a new arena downtown. And the newspaper was the first to report in July 2024 that the arena would be part of a much bigger district code-named Project Marvel.
After more than a year of closed-door discussions, city officials first aired their plans in public in City Council meeting in November, and put cost estimates on some of the district’s elements for the first time in February.
The price tag for an expanded Convention Center is $750 million, and a second Convention Center hotel is expected to cost about the same. Reconfiguring the Wood courthouse would cost $100 million to $150 million, and overhauling the Alamodome could cost more than $1 billion.