The venue carries an estimated price tag of $1.3 billion.
SAN ANTONIO — Talks between the City of San Antonio and the Spurs could reach a major checkpoint Thursday, when City Council is scheduled to vote on approving a term sheet between the two entities—and accelerating planning for a new downtown basketball arena.
The arena would be one of the central components of the city’s plan to develop a downtown sports and entertainment district, along with aspirations to expand the Henry B. González Convention Center, convert the federal courthouse into a live music venue and renovate the Alamodome.
A downtown location for San Antonio’s beloved Spurs would represent the start of a new chapter for the city’s only major professional sports team. It would also, according to a draft of the term sheet agreement between the Spurs and city staff, take nearly half a decade to develop and build.
“Design and construction of the arena is expected to take up to 57 months, with a completed facility delivered for Spurs and fan use by the start of the 2032-33 NBA regular season,” the document states.
That estimated completion time would bring the team right up to the end of its current lease at the Frost Bank Center, which open in October 2002 to cap a 26-month construction period.
The document teases an arena with between 17,000 and 18,500 seats (Frost Bank Center has about 18,418) with an expected price tag of $1.3 billion. That’s in line with the current NBA landscape: The Intuit Dome in Los Angeles opened in August 2024, the result of a $2 billion endeavor.
The development of a downtown Spurs arena, the proposed term sheet stipulates, calls for the team to oversee a mentorship program for small businesses participating in its construction. The term sheet also, notably, calls for an “obligation” for the arena to be renovated “between the 13th and 15th year of operation to ensure (it) remains a state-of-the-art NBA arena.”
What else is in the term sheet?
The venue is expected to be built in the former site of the Institute of Texan Cultures, for which the city holds first dibs to sell or lease, the result of a decision by University of Texas regents last year. The Spurs would pay $500 million to build the arena, while Bexar County would chip in $311 million via venue tax money so long as voters give them the green light in November.
The City of San Antonio would contribute up to $489 million through bonds repaid via state hotel revenues and downtown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone. The Spurs would be on the hook for cost overruns.
As part of the term sheet, the Spurs would also commit to $2.5 million annually for community benefits while working with private companies to create $1.4 billion worth of development, including housing, retail and office space. The first phase of that development, valued at $500 million, would have to be completed by the time the arena opens for business.