On the heels of its first bowl win, UTSA is looking to invest millions of dollars in building more athletics facilities at its far Northwest San Antonio campus.
Lisa Campos, vice president for intercollegiate athletics and director of athletics at UTSA, recently told supporters that the university plans to build additional facilities and new development is planned for its 125-acre Park West campus.
Construction will start later this year on a volleyball and basketball training facility at the UTSA main campus while other changes are coming to Park West, an area west of the main campus that is home to a soccer field and track-and-field stadium that opened in 2023. The field and stadium are used by student-athletes and for community sporting events.
The university plans to spend an estimated $57 million on new facilities and capital projects for UTSA athletics, Campos said.
“To remain competitive, we will need to continue to enhance our existing facilities as well as build new ones,” she said. “Moving forward, additional university funding for the Department of Athletics beyond those allocated for operating expenses will be directed to capital projects.”
Campos added that the university also plans to continue partnering with the City of San Antonio and Bexar County on development projects and “focus on real estate monetization and the sale of university land” to provide funds for future projects.
In February, the University of Texas Board of Regents gave UTSA conditional approval to discuss a sale or lease agreement with the City of San Antonio for its Institute of Texan Cultures property in Hemisfair for a “potential downtown revitalization project.”
The university also plans to sell almost 24 acres of land at Park West and use the proceeds for capital projects that support the athletics program and to build a mixed-use development, a UTSA spokesman said.
The land was listed for sale in December with offers due by Feb. 20, said a university spokesman. The evaluation of offers is now underway.
For the mixed-use development, about 36 acres will be included in a land lease with a request for proposals expected to be released at the end of March.
UTSA will select a partner who will provide the best value to the university while creating a development vision that is complementary to the surrounding community, with a priority focus on pedestrian-friendly, green designs, the spokesman said. It will likely include a mix of multifamily residential development, retail services, medical-retail facilities, hospitality and office space.
Athletics facilities at the UTSA main campus include a convocation center, the Roadrunner Athletics Center of Excellence, Roadrunner fields for baseball and softball and the UTSA Tennis Center.
UTSA plays its home football games at the Alamodome through an agreement with the city that began in 2012 and goes through 2035. TPC San Antonio at the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort and Spa is the home practice venue for the UTSA men’s and women’s golf programs.
Campos outlined ways in which the university has been on a sort of winning streak in the past year.
In July, UTSA joined the American Athletic Conference, a move that is expected to provide the university with greater national media exposure, more Texas team matchups and expanded recruiting opportunities.
Game attendance and ticket sales in 2023-24 also have outpaced previous years across its football, soccer and volleyball programs.
In September, local philanthropist Harvey Najim committed $2 million to UTSA football, and annual sponsorship revenue for UTSA Athletics increased by more than 20%.
This story has been corrected to state the location of the new facilities at UTSA.
