Spurs ownership wants a new arena in San Antonio.
The ownership of the National Basketball Association’s San Antonio Spurs franchise has decided that it will spend more than a billion dollars to help build an arena-village in San Antonio. But there is a lot of work to be done before a shovel is put into the ground. Where is the rest of the money coming from? San Antonio and Bexar County elected officials 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.
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 in an attempt in expand the business’ fanbase. The arena game continues in San Antonio.
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