SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino speaks during a November board meeting on the land-sale deal between the district and real estate developer Weston Urban. Credit: Michael Karlis

The San Antonio Independent School District has scrapped the initial conditions it placed on selling land it owns so developers can build a new minor-league baseball stadium downtown.

The district’s board of trustees no longer is seeing $45 million to fund a new Advanced Learning Academy, $400,000 in annual payments and a spot for Superintendent Jaimie Aquino on the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, according to a slideshow the district posted Friday online. SAISD issued the initial demands during a Nov. 18 board meeting where it discussed whether it would sell a 2.3-acre parcel that Weston Urban and the ownership group behind the San Antonio Missions baseball team needs if they are to develop a $160 million ballpark development downtown. As a result of negotiations with the city, county and Weston Urban since the Nov. 18 meeting, SAISD is now asking for:

The right to appoint a representative to the board of San Antonio’s Housing Trust
A land donation from the Missions baseball team so the district can build a new $45 million Advanced Learning Academy
A new parking garage built by the county with at least 250 parking spaces and free parking for students and staff
A 5-year measurable plan from the city and county to build at least 1,250 affordable housing units within the district

SAISD is set to discuss and possibly vote on the new terms at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at the district’s 514 W. Quincy St. headquarters.

If the board is unable to agree to those terms on Monday, then the team’s owners may be forced to build the stadium in another part of town.

If the district and the developers are unable to reach a deal, residents at the Soap Factory Apartments also won’t receive $2,500 relocation stipends promised by the city and Weston Urban, according to a letter from San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh. Walsh explained that requirement in a Dec. 12 letter to SAISD Superintendent Jaimie Aquino and District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur.

Copy of Letter from San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh to SAISD Superintendent Jaimie Aquino and District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur.

Weston Urban plans to demolish the low-cost Soap Factory Apartments to make way for luxury condominiums built around the ballpark. The increased property tax value from those condos and other nearby developments will generate $1 billion in revenue and will pay for the ballpark, Walsh said in his letter.

“Because of the displacement that could occur over the next several years, the City and Weston Urban are each contributing $250,000 that will be disbursed to tenants that wish to relocate to another residential property,” Walsh wrote. “The $500,000 is included in the term sheet and is predicated on the development of a baseball facility.”

Despite Walsh and Weston Urban maintaining that the $2,500 relocation fee always depended on whether SAISD would sell its land to Weston Urban, Soap Factory tenants said that wasn’t made clear to them. Some of those residents have already moved out of the complex, as previously reported by the Current.

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