SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Spurs are financially backing Project Marvel with a large investment, hoping to fund a new arena and downtown area.
The pledge, exceeding $1 billion, encompasses $500 million plus assured coverage of excess costs for a new arena, $500 million towards associated development in the downtown area and $60 million to boost community programs.
Peter Holt, chairman of Spurs Sports & Entertainment, requested in a letter to City Manager Erik Walsh that 30% of the arena and district building contracts go to local San Antonio businesses.
“We have participated in this process because we believe that building a downtown district by combining our private resources with state tax dollars collected from tourists presents a generational opportunity to grow our economy, enhance public resources, and ensure San Antonio’s rightful place among other major American cities,” Holt said in the letter.
Project Marvel would create a new downtown Spurs arena, along with an entertainment venue, a larger convention center, a new convention hotel, a land bridge over I-37 to connect the east side to downtown and a redesigned Alamodome.
The total cost of Project Marvel has been estimated to be between $3-4 billion.
San Antonio’s funding plan for these projects relies heavily on tourism taxes, developer property taxes, Spurs contributions and PFZ.
Within three miles of a qualifying project lies a PFZ, where the state’s hotel revenue growth over 30 years funds project improvements.
The project, in two phases, is planned to take 15 years to finish.
The full letter from Peter Holt can be found below.