New downtown baseball stadium would cost $160 million, but taxpayers don’t want to pay
The cost and plans for a new baseball stadium in downtown San Antonio – based on a private development project that will partially finance the facility – were announced at a city council meeting on Wednesday.
The cost of the San Antonio Missions’ home stadium and land in the northwest quadrant of downtown is estimated at $160 million. The 7,500-seat stadium would be built on mostly vacant lots at North Flores, Camaron and Kingsbury streets, south of the San Antonio ISD headquarters and adjacent to San Pedro Creek Culture Park.
The new baseball stadium is scheduled to open in 2028. It will replace the Nelson W. Wolff Municipal Stadium, which was built in southwest San Antonio in 1994 and is considered inadequate by today’s Major League Baseball standards.
Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the city and county have negotiated an agreement to finance the stadium through a public-private partnership.
“We are looking for a framework that is innovative, that protects the taxpayers of San Antonio and that creates public facilities in areas of our community that, frankly, need investment,” Nirenberg said.
City officials stressed that the stadium is not funded directly by taxpayers, but by the team’s owners as well as tax revenues from private development in the area and the Houston Street Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ).
About 86 percent of the cost will be covered by the team’s own contribution, team entrance fees and revenue, guaranteed additional revenue from city and county property taxes and a guaranteed municipal administration levy from the first two of four planned new construction projects in the area, said Brian Gorzell, the city’s chief financial officer.
The remaining 14% will come from the TIRZ and two other phases of private development in the region.
The city and county of Bexar have formed the San Pedro Creek Development Authority, which is comprised of representatives from both bodies and the owners of the teams that will own the stadium. The authority will issue a private bond to help finance the stadium, with TIRZ pledging $126 million.
The bond will be repaid through the team’s revenues, including a $1 million annual lease payment for use of the facility and a $2 fee per ticket, the additional tax revenue from the redevelopment, Municipal Management District (MMD) levies, and existing TIRZ dollars.
The MMD consists of the new planned development, which also includes the land occupied by the Soap Factory apartments. A plan for the relocation of residents is part of the agreement.
Under the terms of the agreement proposed to the Council, the team’s advance for the stadium is is $34 million and the team will be responsible for any construction cost overruns.
Local ownership of missions
Designated Bidders, a 30-member investor group, acquired the Missions Club in November 2022 from California-based Elmore Group. Partners include Weston Urban co-founder Graham Weston, its CEO Randy Smith and former Clear Channel Communications executive Bob Cohen.
Designated Bidders general manager Bruce Hill said the team’s vision is to “build the best ballpark in its class that is self-sustaining.”
The Missions, the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, are operated by Ryan Sanders Baseball, which also owns the Round Rock Express and Corpus Christi Hooks.
“We are honored to be in San Antonio and we want to help keep professional baseball in San Antonio for a very long time,” said Reid Ryan, CEO of Ryan Sanders Baseball, a former college and professional baseball player and son of Baseball Hall of Fame inductee pitcher Nolan Ryan.
Weston Urban, the private development company behind Frost Tower and 300 Main, plans to build hotels and apartments in the area with an expected tax value of about $1 billion, according to Gorzell.
The developer has several large residential projects planned near the creek, including a 258-unit mixed-use project adjacent to San Pedro Creek on West Commerce Street.
In recent years, Weston Urban has acquired properties and land in the northwest part of downtown, such as the Soap Factory Apartments, which led to rumors that a baseball stadium would be built in the area.
What is a TIRZ?
After the meeting, City Manager Erik Walsh tried to explain how the TIRZ works.
There are five of them in San Antonio, with the Houston Street TIRZ, established in 1999, serving downtown. The stadium agreement calls for expanding part of this zone into the Westside TIRZ.
As an economic development tool, a TIRZ establishes a base taxable level, then captures any excess property tax revenue generated by new development, and reinvests those funds in public improvements that benefit the zone, such as roads, drainage, utilities, street lighting, and parks.
In addition to the new stadium, the agreement also calls for new public amenities such as green space, youth programs and “stakeholder days” where local groups can use the ballpark. The team owners have also established the 1888 Baseball Foundation, which will donate $200,000 annually to local initiatives supporting children and homeless veterans.
The city council is scheduled to vote on the plan on August 29.
If approved, the public will be invited to participate in the planning for the stadium and the surrounding area in the coming months.
Support of the city council
Council members said Wednesday that the plan for the stadium met their expectations for funding such a project, but some called for a public hearing before voting.
“A lot of people are struggling to make it happen, and they want the assurance that, as exciting as it is, they won’t have to pay for it,” said City Councilman Marc Whyte (D10). “And as was made very clear today, I think we’re doing it right.”
9th District Councilman John Courage said he was happy with the agreement because he has always believed the team’s owners should build the stadium.
“Growth pays for growth, and in my opinion this plan is just that,” Courage said. “It’s a golden project that will generate a lot of growth in this area, including the stadium. And that growth will fund the stadium and everything else, and it will not mean a tax increase for any of our taxpayers.”
However, he asked for information on the stadium’s expected revenue. “I think my constituents will ask: How much do the owners make?” Courage said.
Smith rejected this suggestion.
“I don’t claim to speak for all owners, but I’ll tell you, for the vast majority of owners that I spend time with on this issue, it’s not about a financial return,” Smith told the report after the briefing. “Exhibit A is that we’re putting $34 million into a facility that we don’t own, and that’s a rarity.”
8th District Councilman Manny Pelaez said he believes the plan will bring this part of downtown out of decline and honor San Antonio’s traditions. “You have my full support,” he told the property owners.
Fifth District Councilwoman Teri Castillo expressed concern for residents who would be displaced by the stadium and new development. She called on Weston Urban officials to develop a relocation plan as soon as possible and to waive rental application fees and security deposits.
Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, whose District 2 includes the Frost Bank Center on the East Side, where the San Antonio Spurs play, said he too was concerned about the displacement of residents and then asked city staff to explain what he saw as a complex financing arrangement in simple terms.
“My constituents will say, ‘This is great – it’s time we started looking like other major cities in the United States, and our downtown is ready for it,'” McKee-Rodriguez said. “But I also have constituents who say, ‘No way, we haven’t addressed our public safety issues, our housing crisis and homelessness.'”
“And both are compelling for different reasons.”
