The visionary behind San Antonio’s plans for a brand new downtown sports activities and leisure district regrets naming it Challenge Marvel — an concept she stated confused the general public and distracted from the extra fashionable aim of constructing the Spurs a brand new enviornment.
“Challenge Marvel” is a code identify metropolis officers gave their bigger imaginative and prescient for roughly $4 billion value of upgrades to the Henry B. González Conference Middle, the Alamodome, a proposed land bridge and NBA enviornment anticipated to make the Hemisfair space a serious vacation spot for vacationers and locals alike.
It was first revealed in emails obtained by open information requests by the Categorical-Information in July of 2024, and caught on shortly regardless of metropolis leaders’ efforts to rebrand.
“It’s been a rocky begin. We’re nonetheless making an attempt to teach the neighborhood on what’s occurring,” former Assistant Metropolis Supervisor Lori Houston informed attendees at a Texas Public Radio breakfast Tuesday. “[I’m] not going to take any bets on the place it’s going to go.”
The primary main indication of whether or not the general public helps the sector will come from Prop. B within the Nov. 4 election. Voters are being requested whether or not to place $311 million from Bexar County’s venue tax towards an general $1.3 billion venture — which leans on $489 million of metropolis funding as nicely.
Houston, who has been part of many large downtown improvement initiatives over the previous 20 years, believes Challenge Marvel has the potential to be probably the most transformative change to downtown in many years.
However the important thing to main initiatives’ success is an alignment of assist from the personal sector, elected officers and the general public, she stated, and proper now the latter isn’t the place it must be.
“I want we might have led with the sector alternative, after which talked about what town was already doing [on the convention center and Alamodome] versus promoting it multi functional shot,” stated Houston, who shepherded town’s Riverwalk extensions from dream to actuality underneath then-Mayor Phil Hardberger.
Houston retired from Metropolis Corridor on the finish of final month, however stated she plans to “keep engaged” with the venture — plus different ardour initiatives like homelessness and reasonably priced housing — whereas determining what’s subsequent for her profession.
Measuring public sentiment
Up to now there’s been no public polling on the Spurs enviornment, one thing the workforce has put $2 million into selling by way of its PAC. Outcomes of a UTSA ballot are anticipated to drop subsequent week, days earlier than early voting begins Oct. 20.
However Houston stated Tuesday that non-public polling had helped inform town’s resolution to maneuver the workforce downtown, partly by indicating there was little curiosity in investing to replace the Spurs’ present Eastside residence.
“Individuals had been saying, ‘Yeah, I don’t assist a brand new enviornment, the Frost Financial institution Middle or any enhancements as a result of there’s nothing there. We go there after which we go away,’” Houston stated.
From that suggestions, the concept of Challenge Marvel was born — although Houston stated colleagues lengthy joked it wanted one other identify.
The town labored on the imaginative and prescient with the Spurs’ house owners for roughly a 12 months earlier than the concept was offered to the general public in November 2024, one thing she stated was supposed to first work out what was potential in that area earlier than providing the general public an entire imaginative and prescient.
“[Polling indicated people wanted] one thing the place you’ve extra alternatives in that space, … so we determined, let’s promote the entire venture,” Houston stated Tuesday.
However that method roiled some critics who felt not noted of the method on a landscape-shifting venture that engaged builders lengthy earlier than residents.
Earlier than it was even offered to the general public in November, neighborhood leaders had already began organizing towards it with yellow “No! Challenge Marvel” yard indicators peppering downtown.
Houston stated Tuesday that she now believes town ought to have centered on the sector as a substitute of letting the general public imagine it was voting on the entire surrounding improvement plans.
The town is utilizing state {dollars} from a Challenge Finance Zone to pay for the conference middle and Alamodome upgrades. That cash is limited-use and doesn’t require a public vote.
The town’s $489 million enviornment contribution comes from a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone and hire the workforce can pay for the lease — extra spending it doesn’t want permission for from the general public.
“The largest problem I’ve had with the venture from the get go was we packaged it as a sports activities leisure district, and actually the problem is about an enviornment in downtown San Antonio,” Houston stated. “These different elements, the conference middle, these all had been going to get performed, whatever the enviornment coming in.”
