Despite new revenue stream, San Antonio still $1 billion short on Project Marvel fantasy

San Antonio City Council on Thursday voted 9-0 to expand an existing special tax zone to help pay for downtown’s massive Project Marvel sports district, and more specifically, a new arena for the San Antonio Spurs.

The new “project financing” — essentially an enlargement of one council created in 2023 — allows the city to siphon off the state’s portion of tax revenue generated from downtown hotels. That sum, estimated to bring the city about $2.5 billion over the next 30 years, can be used to expand the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, renovate the aging Alamodome, and build a new Spurs arena at Hemisfair.

In part, council pushed through the new funding mechanism because it didn’t require voter approval.

Despite the potential end run around the ballot box, math suggests the city still may come up short on the funding necessary for a project of that scope. For example, the basketball arena alone is likely to cost around $1.5 billion, according some projections.

Council hopes that voters in November will sign off on the city using the county venue-tax revenue collected via hotel rooms and rental cars. If council gets the green light, that could yield another $500 million for Project Marvel.

Even if council can convince voters to approve that use of funds, the total cost of Project Marvel and all of its other grandiose plans – a new hotel, concert venue and land bridge – is $4 billion.

In other words, even if all goes to plan, SA is still short about $1 billion, and Spurs Sports & Entertainment has yet to provide a definitive sum it’s willing to cough up for the project.

Stay tuned.

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This article appears in May 14-27, 2025.