Why not a new arena where the Frost Bank Center is now, where access and parking would be far easier and the cost considerably lower? Credit: Michael Karlis

CityScrapes is a column of opinion and analysis.

When city officials first announced Project Marvel, it was obvious the price tag would be enormous.

After all, the grand plan didn’t just call for a new Spurs arena but also a convention center expansion, a hotel, an events center, a highway deck and Alamodome improvements — all downtown. The full tab could easily come to $3 billion or more with the arena accounting for more than a third of the price tag.

And while the state had made available some new revenue sources for the convention center and dome, San Antonio simply doesn’t have billions in public dollars lying around. Nor have the Spurs indicated an interest in footing any more than a small fraction of the cost.

So, where would the money come from?

The obvious answer was Chapter 334 of the Texas Local Government Code, the law that provided the funding for the AT&T Center — the Spurs’ previous arena, now called the Frost Bank Center — in 1999 and for subsequent improvements, as well as for new arenas in Dallas and Houston.

The great advantage of the state’s venue tax law is that it provides for taxes on hotel rooms and car rentals, fees arguably paid by visitors rather than local residents. In the case of the Frost Bank Center, the Spurs went with a proposal from Bexar County to build the facility at the Freeman Coliseum site rather than a downtown site promoted by then-Mayor Howard Peak. That meant the venue tax belongs to the county.

So, the latest proposed arena deal hinges on the willingness of the county to go along with the wonders of Project Marvel. And because the state law requires a public vote, it will ultimately be up to voters to decide whether to support a $1 billion-plus vision that would give this community two competing arenas.

That gives the community a real say in the arena plan, and the larger project. County Judge Peter Sakai and the commissioners can exercise some independent judgement on a deal that Mayor Ron Nirenberg and city officials seem both totally committed to — even if those same officials seem unwilling to share the details with the public.

As members of the public, let’s demand that Sakai and our county commissioners ask serious questions about the project, starting with why the Spurs need an expensive new arena right now.

Some have argued that unless we build the team a new home, they might leave town, maybe decamping to Austin. But even for those who genuinely love the team, why build a new arena downtown at a site that already has traffic issues and has a host of other development possibilities? Why not a new arena where the Frost Bank Center is now, where access and parking would be far easier and the cost considerably lower?

The obvious answer is that Project Marvel really isn’t about the Spurs or a new arena.

It’s a deal to boost our ailing downtown — and those who own downtown properties — that years of city policies have effectively turned into a tourist ghetto. Remember Tri-Party, Houston Street, Main Plaza, the downtown streetcar plan and Mayor Julián Castro’s Decade of Downtown?

There can, and should, be lots of questions about whether a new arena at Hemisfair will do anything to improve truly downtown. After all, the Spurs spent years playing at the Hemisfair Arena and then at the dome. The team’s presence didn’t substantially boost the fortunes of the vicinity, or of St. Paul Square and Sunset Station. Similarly, the promises that the Frost Bank Center would somehow materially change the East Side have never been fulfilled.

So, Judge Sakai, give the public a chance to decide where — and if — a new arena should happen.

As county officials consider the arena plan and use of the venue tax, they should also recognize that there are other uses for those same tax revenues. Uses that have nothing to do with accommodating the Spurs.

County voters last decided on using the venue tax dollars in May 2008, and that election included four propositions tied to the tax. One called for $100 million for the arena and Freeman Coliseum improvements. A second proposed $125 million for San Antonio River improvements that financed much of the work on the Museum Reach. Another allocated $80 million for soccer and baseball fields around the county. And the last provided $110 million for what became the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and other cultural facilities.

The river improvement proposition won the greatest voter support, with 74.6%. The amateur sports facilities came in next at 71.7%, followed by the funding for the Tobin Center with a 65.1%. The funds for the new arena finished last with just 56.9%.

That’s something Sakai and the commissioners need to recall and think about. We all need to ask what else this community might do with a billion dollars that might be invested in river and creek improvements, amateur sports and facilities for the arts and other public amenities.

Then we need to tell our elected officials.

Heywood Sanders is a professor emeritus of public administration at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.