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This morning, City Council voted to approve the new Project Marvel, a four billion dollar plan to create a new sports and entertainment district downtown. The project includes a new taxpayer-funded arena for the Spurs.
The project would be rolled into a preexisting plan to upgrade the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and the Alamodome. Those projects were also set to be funded by taxpayer dollars.
Under the previous plan, work would have had to begin on both projects inside of five years, and the clock has been ticking since 2023. Now the clock has completely reset, and they only have to start work on any one of the three projects in order to receive tax funding.
According to City Manager Erik Walsh, the project will be funded by taxes on hotels and rental cars, future revenue generated by the new arena, and a contribution from the Spurs, but no property tax dollars will go towards the project.
The vote to approve the project was 9-0, with two members of City Council being absent.