Project Marvel includes a new arena for the NBA team.
The ownership of the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs franchise along with city of San Antonio officials and Bexar County officials have made a decision. The three potential arena-village partners decided that local property taxes will not be used to fund a basketball arena-village. The three could use hotel and car rental taxes for the project and will be able to make the claim that no local taxes will be used for the venue construction. San Antonio City Manager Erik Walsh said the city is considering various sources of revenue. There is some thought of creating a tax zone where all sales tax generated within the zone would be kicked back to the developer. Spurs’ ownership has not publicly committed money to the project.
The Project Marvel plan includes the construction of a San Antonio Spurs’ arena along with renovations to the 31-year-old Alamodome. The plan also calls for the adding of 150,000 square feet to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as well as building a 20,000-square-foot University of Texas at San Antonio School of Hospitality. Additionally, if all goes according to the plan, the empty John H. Wood Federal Courthouse would be turned into a 5,000-seat concert venue. A convention center hotel would be part of Project Marvel. The price tag of Project Marvel is estimated to be around $4 billion. In the late 1990s, Spurs’ management pushed for a new arena and local voters said yes to building a new venue that opened in 2002. San Antonio officials are also worried that Spurs’ ownership may fall in love with nearby Austin and move operations to the Texas capital. Spurs’ games have been played in Austin because the ownership group wants to expand its fan base. The arena game continues in San Antonio.
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