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Downtown infrastructure upgrades for the proposed Project Marvel Sports & Entertainment District are estimated to cost between $220 million and $250 million, according to a city council briefing on Wednesday.
A new San Antonio Spurs arena on the site of the former Institute of Texan Cultures, with an estimated cost up to $1.5 billion, would be the center of the new district. It, along with a series of other projects, would require significant upgrades to downtown infrastructure in order to operate.
Getting that infrastructure funding is contingent on city voters approving an infrastructure bond, which San Antonio leaders said they hope to call for this November. San Antonio’s Chief Financial Officer Ben Gorzell said the infrastructure bond would largely be backed by guaranteed new private development from the area surrounding the district.
The city would have to call such a bond election by Aug. 18.
The infrastructure funding would support 20 infrastructure projects, from road improvements and revamped intersections to a new IH-37 on-ramp, parking garage at the Alamodome, and pedestrian bridge between the Alamodome and the proposed Spurs arena.
City leaders also proposed including a new housing bond and a neighborhood improvements bond for the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the district along with the infrastructure bond. They established a community engagement process for the summer.
The briefing did not include any specific dollar amounts or proportions for what the city, Bexar County, and Spurs would contribute to a Spurs arena.
District 10 Councilmember Marc Whyte said he was frustrated that the council was being pushed to approve an infrastructure bond election when they councilmembers didn’t have the arena funding details and as they are in the middle of negotiating next year’s budget.
“We sit here today and don’t have it quite pinned down — what portion the Spurs are going to pay for, what portion the city’s gonna pay for, what portion the county’s gonna pay for,” he said. “I don’t understand it.”
Outgoing Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the process would take time, and he urged his colleagues not to shy away from the project out of fear for all the ways it could go wrong.
“This is how public process works,” he said. “And the reality is, in order for us to arrive at these answers and be transparent at the same time, we’re going to have some of these debates out in the open, which is what we should be doing.”
Proposed infrastructure improvements
César Chávez Boulevard, Montana Street, Cherry Street, Hoefgen Avenue, and Houston Street are all slated to be upgraded if the infrastructure bond is passed. Proposed infrastructure projects also include more than a dozen traffic signal improvements around the district and a revamped intersection at IH-37 and César Chávez that would look similar to the Harry Wurzbach Road and Alamo Highway intersection.
The civil engineering company Pape-Dawson Engineers estimated that the new intersection at IH-37 and César Chávez could increase the number of vehicles moving through it by 60% compared to current traffic flow.
The city is also proposing to build a new 2,500 space parking garage on Alamodome’s Lot A that would have a direct connection to IH-37 to alleviate the area’s traffic flow when the Alamodome hosts large entertainment events.
Another of the projects is a new northbound IH-37 ramp that would skip Commerce Street.
The city would also like to add 3,500 parking spaces within walking distance of the Alamodome and make parking easier with online reservations and dynamic pricing to encourage paying for parking when someone purchases an event ticket.
Housing and neighborhood improvement bonds
City council members and city leaders have discussed the potential for putting a new housing bond on the November 2025 ballot for several months. Like the infrastructure bond, the city council would need to vote to call such a bond election by Aug. 18.
San Antonio passed its first ever housing bond in 2021 for $150 million, but councilmembers have said more money is needed to support affordable housing in the city.
“I think this is something that we should be doing whether there’s a Project Marvel or not,” District 5 Councilmember Teri Castillo said of a new housing bond. “It’s something that, again, going back to the public input process, that San Antonians are saying is a need for us to invest in.”
City leaders also floated a possible neighborhood improvement bond for the four neighborhoods surrounding the Sports & Entertainment District — Dignowity Hill, King William, Denver Heights, and Lavaca — which will be most impacted by the new downtown development.
Community engagement process
The city has planned two-day community engagement workshops in each of the 10 city council districts throughout June and July to discuss the Sports & Entertainment District.
The first day of the workshops will be split between daytime focus groups and stakeholder meetings, followed by an evening public meeting. The second day of the workshops will be split between another set of daytime focus groups and stakeholder meetings and a full day open house.
In response to criticisms and concerns from some council members over whether the feedback the city gets from community engagement tools like these ever gets implemented into policy, Walsh pointed that it was up to the council and mayor to decide whether and how it’s implemented.
“Whether it's on this project or the budget, ultimately, that's feedback that we catalog and give back to you all to receive as feedback on potential changes on whatever we're doing,” Walsh said.
Districts 2, 4, 5, and 7 will have their workshops on June 24 and June 25. The District 2 workshop will be held at the Wheatley Heights Sports Complex, the District 4 workshop will be held at Palo Alto College, the District 5 workshop does not yet have a location, and the District 7 workshop will be held at the St. Paul Community Center.
Districts 3 and 10 will have their workshops on June 30 and July 1. District 3’s workshop will be held at the Southside Lions Senior Center and District 10’s workshop will be held at Morgan’s Wonderland.
Districts 1, 6, 8, and 9 will have their workshops on July 8 and July 9. District 1’s workshop does not yet have a location, District 6’s workshop will be held at the Darner Parks & Recreation Headquarters, District 8’s workshop will be held at the Phil Hardberger Urban Ecology Center, and District 9’s workshop will be held at the Walker Ranch Senior Center.
