In a nutshell
The vote allows Judge Peter Sakai to enter negotiations with San Antonio city officials and the San Antonio Spurs to discuss the terms for the construction of a new downtown Spurs arena.
MOU objectives include a county venue tax measure on the November ballot, the renovation of the county-owned Frost Bank Center and the Freeman Coliseum and the transfer of the Willow Springs Golf Course from the city to the county for an east side development project to help maintain the county’s investment in the area.
Precinct 3 Commissioner Grant Moody expressed reservations about entering into negotiations of the trilateral agreement due to the listed projects in the MOU, which do not involve the county. He also noted that entering MOU without a clear separation between city projects and county investments could cause confusion down the line.
“As much as I've been assured that it's clear that the county doesn't have a role in Project Marvel, and all of the projects within Project Marvel [that] are included with in the MOU, I think that we should ultimately strip out [these projects from the agreement] as we go forward, and make clear the separation between the investments the county could make in a Spurs arena versus the rest of the city projects that are being discussed as part of Project Marvel,” Moody said.
Sakai requested the court’s approval of the MOU as listed in the agenda, so negotiations could move forward. Additionally, Sakai pointed out that the November ballot measure is on a county venue tax and not on whether or not there will be a new downtown Spurs arena.
“Ultimately it will be an election on the county venue tax, not on whether we're going to have a new Spurs arena, but on what we're going to do with our county venue tax,” Sakai said.
The vote passed 4-1, with Moody voting against.
The details
Prior to the vote, the commissioners court received facility assessments from Derrick Howard, the Freeman Coliseum executive director.
In the assessment, Howard identified seven areas of focus for the maintenance and upkeep of the Frost Bank Center.
Seven areas of focus:
- Architectural and interiors
- Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection
- Structure
- Technology
- Roofs and facade
- Food service and retail
- Vertical transportation, such as escalators
“[The] Frost Bank building is around 25 years old, and it's no different than your home or your car, [or] any type of entity that has moving parts, mechanical parts, breakable parts, parts that get used very often. [Continual use] has created what we call a denigration over time, and in many cases, 25 years for many of these components [is when they] begin to [reach] what we call end of life or end of use,” Howard said.
County officials said overall maintenance of both the Freeman Coliseum and Expo Halls is approximately $8 million, while the Frost Bank Center requires roughly $245 million worth of maintenance and improvements over a 20 year period.
Stay tuned
Judge Sakai will enter negotiations with city officials and Spurs officials to solidify the terms of the MOU, and county officials will develop a master plan for upkeep and maintenance of the Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum and Expo Halls.
