SAN ANTONIO – City Manager Erik Walsh received the green light to initiate negotiations with Bexar County and the San Antonio Spurs for the billion-dollar “Project Marvel” sports and entertainment district.
The approval on Thursday — which followed a brief discussion between city council members and Mayor Ron Nirenberg — means Walsh can negotiate and execute a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Bexar County and the Spurs related to future talks related to “Project Marvel,” an agenda memorandum stated.
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In addition to the approval, council members and Nirenberg approved an amendment to the original memorandum to allow District 1 Councilwoman Sukh Kaur and District 2 Councilman Jalen Mckee-Rodriguez to join Walsh during negotiations.
The argument for the amendment was centered around the Spurs’ future arena being moved from the East Side to downtown San Antonio, and Kaur and Mckee-Rodriguez represent those areas.
The MOU is more permission to work toward a deal than a deal itself.
BACKGROUND
The new San Antonio Spurs arena could cost $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion, according to a city estimate, but there is still no breakdown of how it will be paid for.
The city has estimated costs for about half the projects in its vision for “Project Marvel,” including the arena.
The combined price tag currently exceeds $2.75 billion, though the final cost will likely be higher, since several of the listed projects don’t even have cost projections: a “revised” plan for the Alamodome, a new land bridge across IH-37, the acquisition of a former federal courthouse, and the related infrastructure needed to support the district.
City staff have laid out possible funding sources, both public and private, for each portion of the project. However, the exact breakdowns — especially for projects drawing money from multiple places — remain unclear.
The city and Spurs began quietly discussing a downtown move in early 2023, though the city did not unveil its “Project Marvel” plans until November 2024.
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