A first look at the design plans for San Antonio’s new ballpark, a project that went from aspiration to first base late last year, could come as soon as this summer.
While there’s a lot of ground to cover yet, expect something completely different from the existing Missions stadium, say the team’s owners.
The ownership recently announced it selected the global design firm Populous as the lead designer and architect of a new downtown ballpark set to open in 2028. The Kansas City-based firm has designed more than 75 major and minor league ballparks in the U.S., including Southwest University Park in El Paso.
Architectural renderings could be completed this summer.
‘Nobody gets a pass’
The announcement coincided with the city creating the San Pedro Creek Development Authority as part of an agreement signed in September, just ahead of a Major League Baseball-imposed deadline of Oct. 15.
The San Pedro Creek Development Authority will be made up of city and county representatives and team owners, and will own the new $160 million venue. The Authority also will issue a private bond to help pay for the ballpark with a pledge of $126 million from the Midtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.
Meeting the time limit with a new stadium plan ensured the team would stay in San Antonio and was the extent of the MLB’s involvement in the agreement, said Bob Cohen, co-founder of Designated Bidders, a board member and investor in the Double-A team.
“There used to be 162 affiliated minor league franchises, and a few years ago, when Major League Baseball took over the minor leagues, they eliminated 42 affiliated franchises,” Cohen said, most because their facilities needed an overhaul that the community could not accomplish.
“Major League Baseball wants to be in San Antonio, but they’re very clear about their requirements, and nobody gets a pass,” he added.
Substandard stadium
The Missions opened the 2025 season on April 4, playing as the team has done since 1994 at Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium on the city’s Southwest Side.
One month into the 150-game season, the team returns April 29 from a weeklong road trip for a game against the Corpus Christi Hooks.
Though Wolff Stadium has undergone extensive renovations over the years, the league considers it substandard for Double-A ball because it lacks the clubhouses, field lighting and training facilities of today’s ballparks.
The Missions are operated by Ryan Sanders Baseball, which also owns the Round Rock Express.
Ryan Sanders Baseball CEO Reid Ryan led the effort to bring baseball to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where the Single-A affiliate team of the Houston Astros plays at the Populous-designed Segra Stadium, which opened in 2019.
Cohen, a former Clear Channel Communications CEO, is leading the effort to build a new ballpark with Bruce Hill, principal manager of the Designated Bidders partnership, a group of investors that bought the team three years ago.
Designated Bidders is made up of other community leaders, including Weston Urban co-founder Graham Weston and its CEO Randy Smith, the group that owns the Soap Factory apartments and is overseeing a resident relocation plan.
A dream to build a new park in San Antonio’s urban core had already been percolating for several years, with one downtown developer acquiring several parcels of land near San Pedro Creek in that time and making plans to relocate residents of an apartment complex that stands in the way.
Weston Urban, the group that owns the Soap Factory apartments, is overseeing a resident relocation plan that will occur in phases in 2025, 2027 and 2029.
The team has committed $34 million to build the stadium, and Weston Urban is planning to build hotels and apartments in the area with a projected taxable value of approximately $1 billion.
360-degree views
Next up in the planning process is what the stadium could look like. The team doesn’t have to look far for inspiration. Cohen pointed to seven ballparks in Texas he says are far nicer than any stadium built in the 1980s and ‘90s.
“We’re the biggest market by population in minor league baseball, so we’re going to do something that’s transformational,” he said.
So while it’s too early to click off a final list of amenities, he said, the owners and other stakeholders have come up with enough ideas to build three ballparks. Those ideas include climbing walls, foosball, corn hole boards and sports bars where fans can have fun while watching the game.
“We’re going to make choices and make trade-offs and come up with something that has state-of-the-art assets that activate for our sponsors and a venue that makes a night at the ballpark very memorable for our fans,” he said.
But Cohen said there’s no doubt the stadium will, like many other stadiums today, have a 360-degree concourse that will make it possible to see the field from every point in the ballpark.
“We’ve been at this for two years now so we’ve visited a lot of ballparks, we’ve done a lot of listening, a lot of research, and had a chance to see the transformative effects of what’s being built in other marketplaces, particularly in downtown marketplaces,” he said.
They’re also planning to seek out public input, but the timing for that hasn’t been determined, he said.
More than baseball
Plans call for the stadium to be more than a ballpark. Cohen rattled off a long list of other potential uses, including concerts, meetings, graduations, tournaments, rodeos, campouts, car shows and swap meets.
“We’re thinking of all different ways to have the building active as many nights and as many days during the year as we can,” he said.
“This will be more than a place to watch baseball,” stated Byron Chambers, senior principal at Populous. “It will be a gathering place, a source of pride and a true celebration of the city.”
On the opposite side of downtown, officials also are focused on another kind of sports venue — a new Spurs arena that will ensure the city’s NBA team also remains in San Antonio.
The Missions leadership supports the effort to develop a sports and entertainment district enveloping Hemisfair.
“I think any development for our downtown is a good thing,” Cohen said. “This community wants nothing but the best for our central business district, and these are developments that are going to push us forward.”
Cohen said he’s looking forward to opening night in the new park when people see what’s been accomplished with the ballpark and how it stimulated growth in an area of downtown that “needed the boost.”
“I’m really most excited for fans to experience a game in an environment that offers really so much more than they’ve been previously exposed to,” he said.
