Tuesday’s result puts the Spurs in the driver’s seat to start planning a $1.3 billion downtown arena, an anchor of San Antonio’s Project Marvel dreams.
SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs and San Antonio Rodeo threw up the lob over the past several weeks. On Tuesday, Bexar County voters slammed it through the net.
With all 285 vote centers reporting their results as of 11:15 p.m., residents approved both county Propositions A and B—kicking San Antonio’s downtown sports and entertainment district ambitions into another gear. More than 246,000 voters weighed in on both ballot measures, with just 10,574 separating the “for” and “against” vote for a new downtown Spurs arena.
A majority of more than 147,000 early voters decided to approve both county Propositions A and B, according to initial returns from the elections department, providing the early edge.
The result gives officials the green light to allocate more than half a billion dollars to upgrade the east-side rodeo grounds and help construct a downtown arena for San Antonio’s only major professional sports franchise.
“Votes like this are important for the psyche of a community,” former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg told KENS 5 at the Spurs’ election watch party. “This is one of those moments that San Antonio will be talking about for a long, long time… we had years and years’ worth of these opportunities that voters have said ‘yes’ to, and now we have our priorities straight. Now’s an opportunity to take a next step as a city and a county.”
The results wasn’t always going to be an easy layup.
Newly elected San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones began her tenure by pushing for an independent economic study on a Spurs arena and inquiring about the possibility of revenue-sharing before voting “nay” on a term sheet with the team in August (City Council approved it 7-4).
And both propositions, while supported by former leaders like Ron Nirenberg and Henry Cisneros, as well as the business community, faced opposition from grassroots organizers who have called foul on the city prioritizing its downtown ambitions over things like infrastructure and workforce development.
The blessing from voters marks a major step for both the Spurs and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo. The team is valued at $4.4 billion, according to Forbes, and the rodeo organization raised more than $12 million for Texas children this year.
The two entities, which currently share facilities at the Freeman Coliseum and Frost Bank Center grounds – and which partnered on this fall’s public awareness campaign branded “Win Together” – are looking to grow even further. Passage of the propositions means Bexar County will raise its hotel rental tax rate from 1.75% to 2%, using those dollars – as well as funds from an existing 5% car rental tax – to help pave the future of entertainment in San Antonio.
“No matter what the results are, we’re moving forward with the revitalization of the east side and to make sure these county facilities are up to par,” Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai said at the San Antonio Rodeo’s watch party. “We’re gonna make that Frost Bank Center a premiere venue, no matter who’s in that damn place.”
Prop A allocates $192 million for upgrades to the rodeo grounds, which San Antonio Rodeo CEO Cody Davenport hopes will attract year-round programming. Those additions could include newly versatile buildings for different events; modifications to Expo Hall 1; and a new welcome gate emphasizing the property’s rodeo identity.
Approval of Prop B triggers the different funding mechanisms to start developing and eventually building a $1.3 billion San Antonio Spurs arena at Hemisfair, including up to $311 million from the county; up to $498 million from the city; and $500 million, plus cost overruns, on the part of the Spurs, who can now continue fortifying their San Antonio footprint at the same time as Victor Wembanyama comes into his own as a superstar representative of the city.
The Spurs have said that, between design and development, it could take half a decade to fully realize the new arena. The team’s lease at Frost Bank Center expires in 2032.
How we got here
The milestone votes come just a couple weeks shy of a full year since San Antonio leaders publicly introduced their dream of a downtown sports and entertainment district. Code-named “Project Marvel,” the blueprint involves several anchor projects, including expanding the Henry B. González Convention Center; renovating the Alamodome; developing a land bridge over Interstate 37; and turning the downtown federal courthouse into a live concert venue.
But the public’s focus has largely remained on the potential for a Spurs arena, which would be built at the site of the former Institute of Texan Cultures. That building was torn down this summer, despite lawsuits, and the city was granted first dibs from UTSA to buy the 13.59-acre parcel of land just steps away from Tower of the Americas.
The Spurs, City of San Antonio and Bexar County signed off on a non-binding memorandum of understanding in April, setting the stage for more meaningful conversations over the arena project. Community outreach workshops were held in each council district over the summer, culminating in an often-dramatic Aug. 21 City Council meeting that featured hours of public comment and a brief showdown between Jones and Peter J. Holt, the chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment.
Voters also weighed in on mayoral races of small Bexar County communities, a litany of Texas constitutional amendments and a massive North East ISD bond package. But the headlining ballot measures were Bexar County Propositions A and B, debate over which often foregrounded the Spurs’ worth to the community beyond dollars, cents and NBA championships.
More than more than 148,000 early votes were counted in Bexar County, according to the elections department, including in-person and mail-in ballots. That’s good for an 11.5% turnout—nearly double the percentage of early voter turnout in the May election, when the position of San Antonio mayor was up for grabs for the first time in nearly a decade.
Thus far, this is the only scheduled public referendum on the headlining component of San Antonio’s efforts to develop a downtown sports and entertainment district, code-named Project Marvel.