Bexar County Voters to Decide Spurs Arena Funding

One piece of a funding jigsaw puzzle for an ambitious sports and entertainment district in downtown San Antonio, which could include a new stadium for the San Antonio Spurs, was punted to voters this week.

The Bexar County Commissioners Court sent the issue to a vote on the November ballot, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. Commissioner Grant Moody voted against the referendum, in a 4-1 vote.

Should voters approve the measure, it could raise $500 million in visitor tax revenue for the renovation of the Frost Bank Center, the current home of the Spurs, as well as to work on redeveloping the grounds of the Freeman Coliseum. Bexar County would contribute 25 percent of the cost of the new arena and no more than $311 million to the project.

Spurs Sports and Entertainment Chairman and Managing Partner Peter J. Holt recently pledged $1 billion toward the projects: at least $500 million for the new arena, $500 million for adjacent development and $60 million for community incentives, per a letter sent to city officials last week. The Spurs also pledged to cover cost overruns.

The organization is seeking matching funds from the city and county to fund not just the new arena — estimated to clock in upwards of $1.2 billion — but also expanding the convention center, building a 1,000 room hotel, redeveloping the John Wood Federal Courthouse into a 5,000 seat entertainment venue, upgrading the Alamodome, and building a land bridge between complexes over Interstate 37.

The commissioners’ move comes after the San Antonio City Council tapped into a state mechanism in May that could funnel up to $2 billion in state hotel tax revenue over 30 years into a broader sports and entertainment district.

The council dissolved a previous Project Finance Zone that excluded a new arena and required near-term work on the convention center and Alamodome. Establishing a new one that includes those areas gives the city more flexibility, requiring only one of the three core projects to start construction within five years.

—Eric Weilbacher