MLB has set a deadline of Oct. 15 for a “binding, detailed commitment” to plan for a new minor-league baseball stadium.
SAN ANTONIO — Metaphorically speaking, the City of San Antonio has stepped into the batter’s box of its plan to construct a modern stadium for the Missions minor league baseball team downtown. What happens at City Council on Thursday could determine if the city will start to round the bases.
After City Council requested a delay to fine tune their plan, the governing body will consider and potentially vote to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the county and a local developer to continue plans for an approximately $160 million ballpark. The MOU, the city hopes, would fulfill Major League Baseball’s request for a “more binding detailed commitment” that the league asked to have by Oct. 15, following local leaders submission of a letter of intent this summer.
The drafted agreement includes a more detailed plan to relocate residents of the Soap Factory Apartments complex, which would be demolished to make way for the new ballpark and surrounding development. That possibility led to backlash from tenants and concern from City Council members at a special meeting last month.
The initial proposed agreement, presented to City Council on Aug. 29, divided the demolition up into three phases while giving tenants the option to move into a different development still being built. The updated agreement that will be presented Thursday offers a more detailed plan to help Soap Factory tenants, including a bilingual outreach and engagement effort; financial help for tenants moving elsewhere on the complex before demolition; and the promise that tenants will be able to end their lease early with no penalties.
The updated agreement also adds a provision saying the Missions won’t conduct background checks on prospective hires “until after an interview and an offer is made.”
The baseball field at nearby Fox Tech High School must still be acquired in order to move forward with the project, leaders say, adding negotiations with San Antonio ISD are still ongoing.
City officials say they expect the still-unnamed ballpark to be built by Opening Day 2028; the start of the season typically comes in April. The ballpark would have 4,500 seats with a maximum capacity of 7,500, and it would be paid for by the Missions and bonds issued by the newly created San Pedro Creek Authorities, which would own the park.
Leaders are hoping the ballpark at the intersection of Camaron and Kingsbury streets would help rejuvenate downtown, saying it would bring with it new development from the restaurant and hospitality industries with a taxable value of around $1 billion. That work would be constructed in several phases through the start of the next decade.
The Missions, the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, have called Wolff Stadium on the west side home for 30 years. But MLB has determined that venue isn’t compliant for continued play.
City Council convenes Thursday at 9 a.m.