The City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and San Antonio Spurs took a significant first step on Friday toward making Project Marvel, an ambitious vision for a sports and entertainment district in downtown San Antonio, into a reality.
The three major entities have signed an initial, non-binding, agreement to relocate the San Antonio Spurs to a downtown arena and repurpose the Frost Bank Center. The memorandum of understanding shows their desire to work collaboratively to plan and accomplish these goals, the city, county and Spurs stated in a joint press release.
“This agreement to pursue a downtown sports and entertainment district that includes the Spurs represents a shared commitment to the future of our community,” said Mayor Ron Nirenberg. “It also allows us to begin a thoughtful and transparent process— not only to explore what will be necessary to fund this project, but also to engage directly with our residents to better understand their needs and priorities.”
The new “Sports and Entertainment District” would include an expansion of the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the construction of a new Convention Center Hotel, a land bridge over I-37 to connect the East Side to downtown, improvements to the Alamodome, renovation of the John Wood Courthouse into a live entertainment venue, mixed-use development, enhanced infrastructure and a new Spurs arena, the release said.
The agreement comes amid concern from East Side residents about the future of the 23-year-old Frost Bank Center, formerly called the AT&T Center and prior to that the SBC Center, if the Spurs leave the Arena District.
Locked out of the formal negotiations for Project Marvel last month, East Side Commissioner Tommy Calvert (Pct. 4) took the unusual step of producing and distributing a roughly 400-page book of takeaways from two public input sessions he organized to bring community members into the conversation about what should be done with the area surrounding the Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai aimed to assure residents Friday that the East Side will not be left behind in the process of creating a new sports and entertainment district.
“I am happy that we have worked together to finalize this MOU,” he said. “We are looking forward to a potential November venue tax election to allow voters to voice their opinion on the new Spurs arena, which is the only component of Project Marvel involving Bexar County.
“The venue tax will also be critical for us to deliver on my pledge to redevelop the East Side and use some of those funds to pay for much-needed improvements and upgrades,” Sakai added.
The new arena will mark the fourth home for the Spurs. From 1973 to 1993, the team played at HemisFair Arena, a downtown venue that was eventually demolished to make way for new development. The Spurs then moved to the Alamodome before voters approved a county venue tax in November 1999 to fund the construction of a dedicated basketball arena.
In 2002, the Spurs relocated to the Bexar County-owned East Side arena, where their lease is set to expire in 2032.
“We appreciate the partnership between the City and County as we take steps together in exploring a future downtown Spurs arena,” Spurs CEO RC Buford said in a statement. “This is an exciting project that we believe presents the opportunity to energize our economy, strengthen our community and position San Antonio for long-term success.”
