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The owners of the San Antonio Spurs have kept the ball close to their chests when it comes to how much they are willing to pay themselves toward a new downtown arena and entertainment district dubbed "Project Marvel."
Their silence will grow more awkward with each passing day as voters want more information before a potential vote in November on a county venue tax that, if approved, could generate $450 million to help relocate the team from the Frost Bank Center.
Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai has said those venue tax funds, if approved, would be applied to a new arena only and not the entertainment district. He also wants those funds applied to the redevelopment of the Spurs' current home should the team move downtown and to the redevelopment of the nearby Willow Springs Golf Course.
Sakai told reporters on Wednesday that he expected the Spurs, county, and city to be ready to share more details with voters in a couple of months, but he cautioned he was not speaking on behalf of the city.
"The targeted date is July, so we have to pretty much have all these figures in final form ... so that the county can move forward on a county venue tax election for November," he said. "We're statutorily required to get approval from the comptroller and the State of Texas, so were on some pretty quick deadlines here."
The city, county, and Spurs have all signed onto a joint Memorandum of Understanding on what the roles of each entity will be to make the project happen. The city and county have pledged property taxpayers will not be asked to foot the bill.
Sakai stressed the county continues to be transparent with its actions concerning a possible Spurs move downtown. He said he understood the need of voters to have more information soon.
"The voters need to be educated," he said. "There's really been very little information and as a result of my conversations with the community, they're entitled to be skeptical. They're entitled to disagree."
Sakai spoke on Monday during his State of the County discussion, hosted by the Metro SA Chamber of Commerce at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center downtown.
He reassured the audience that the county does not want to see the Spurs leave the Alamo City — "not on my watch" he said. He also asked members of the audience to raise their hands if they were willing to accept that scenario. Not a single hand in the crowded convention center ballroom went into the air.
The San Antonio City Council voted to create a special tax zone last Thursday that could be a major source of funding for an estimated $1.5 billion Spurs arena. All of Project Marvel would cost more than $3 billion.
The Project Finance Zone (PFZ) is a tax mechanism the state legislature allowed San Antonio to establish in 2023. The PFZ is a three-mile area where the city can use some state hotel tax revenues for 30 years for approved convention center or venue projects.
The council created a PFZ for the “Convention Center Complex” project, which includes the Spurs arena along with major upgrades to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Alamodome. All three are part of Project Marvel, the city’s planned sports and entertainment district.
The PFZ is projected to generate around $2.5 billion over its 30-year lifespan.
