SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio Independent School District trustees voted 5-1 Monday evening to approve the broad strokes of a deal to turn over a key piece of property for a downtown minor league baseball stadium.
The 2.3-acre parking lot on Camaron Street, which SAISD owns, sits in the proposed footprint of a $160 million baseball stadium for the San Antonio Missions. It’s the final piece of land needed for the controversial deal.
District staff emphasized that the memorandum of understanding (MOU) that trustees approved is “non-binding, but it shows they are on board with selling it under certain conditions.
“There’s a lot of things that could actually accelerate this deal or derail the deal,” SAISD Superintendent Jaime Aquino said, adding that lawyers would work out the details.
The MOU would be with the ownership group of the San Diego Padres' AA-affiliate, Designated Bidders; their development partner, Weston Urban; the City of San Antonio; and Bexar County.
Weston Urban’s cofounders, Graham Weston and Randy Smith, are also part of Designated Bidders.
In exchange for turning the property over to Bexar County, SAISD would get:
- Land donated by Weston Urban for a new Advanced Learning Academy building and a new parking garage.
- San Antonio and Bexar County will adopt 5-year housing goals, including 1,250 affordable housing units in the city’s urban core.
- Bexar County will build a new parking garage on or near the Fox Tech campus.
- Bexar County will waive $432,000 in parking fees each year for the use of the Quincy garage.
- SAISD getting a seat on the San Antonio Housing Trust rather than the Houston Street TIRZ.
The latest terms do not include the construction of a $45 million ALA building, which the district had asked in a set of hardball terms last month. According to the MOU, the district was told the building’s construction through a Tax Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) was not legally permitted.
The SAISD land likely seals the fate of the nearby 381-unit Soap Factory Apartments, which has spawned most of the controversy around the project.
The apartments are not in the ballpark’s footprint, but the funding scheme for the $160 million stadium relies on Weston Urban developing the surrounding area. The complex would be demolished as part of those plans — displacing residents in waves.
However, district officials have said even if SAISD were to decide not to sell the land, it wouldn’t guarantee the complex stays standing.
The board’s vote was preceded by two hours of public comment — mostly from people urging against the property’s sale.
“This deal is one that only Scrooge or Mr. Grinch would support. Or, in this case, Graham Weston, Randy Smith, and partners of the Designated Bidders LLC,” said Graciela Sanchez, director of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center.
However, the district also got some props for playing hardball.
“This body was the only public entity to call for a town hall and center the voices of the people most directly impacted by this proposal,” said Adrian Reyna from the San Antonio Alliance of Teachers and Support Personnel. “And you have stood firm in the face of immense pressure from the wealthy and well-connected of our city to ensure that affordable housing is a non-negotiable part of this proposal."
Trustee Sarah Sorenson, the only trustee to vote against the deal, has doubts about what the district will be able to wring out of the deal regarding affordable housing.
“The city has shown time and time again that they’re not fulfilling their commitments to public housing,” Sorenson said. “And again, even that number — what, the number that we put out as a target — is that in addition to they’re doing, or is that what they’re already doing? I mean, I think they try to be cute about this stuff a lot of times.”
Trustee Stephanie Torres was absent for Monday’s vote.
District staff said they hope they have at least a first draft of a contract for the land deal by the Jan. 21, 2025 board meeting.
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