A rendering shows what one of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s buildings on the grounds of the Freeman Coliseum and Frost Bank Center could look like.
The Coliseum Advisory Board and the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc.
A rendering shows what one of the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s buildings on the grounds of the Freeman Coliseum and Frost Bank Center could look like.
The Coliseum Advisory Board and the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc.
A rendering shows what the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo’s buildings on the grounds of the Freeman Coliseum and Frost Bank Center could look like.
The Coliseum Advisory Board and the San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc.
A conceptual plan shows ideas a development group provided for the Frost Bank Center grounds and Willow Springs Golf Course in response to a public solicitation.
Courtesy of Hunt Development Group
Amid tension between leaders of Bexar County and the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo over the future of the Frost Bank Center grounds, county officials made nice Tuesday, signaling their support for advancing the rodeo’s expansion plans.
But CEO Cody Davenport said concepts floated by a private development group for the property — which he says clash with the rodeo’s pitch to voters last year — could still be in play.
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In a unanimous vote, with little discussion, Commissioners Court gave Judge Peter Sakai the go-ahead to negotiate the first of several agreements outlining how $193 million in hotel and rental car taxes — which voters approved in November under Proposition A — will be used to upgrade the East Side arena, Freeman Coliseum and adjacent properties.
“It’s the first step,” Davenport told commissioners. “It’s good to see us all working together like this.”
The county’s public solicitation for developers’ ideas for the area and its willingness to entertain concepts from a group of private companies while simultaneously advocating for Proposition A has roiled rodeo leaders, who view it as a violation of voters’ trust.
They say it conflicts with the improvements the nonprofit San Antonio Livestock Exposition Inc. plans to remake the Frost Bank Center grounds to host Western shows, auctions and competitions year-round.
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The organization currently controls the county-owned coliseum grounds for only a few weeks a year for its annual stock show and rodeo, but wants to expand when the Spurs move to a new arena downtown.
SALE “will serve as the primary developer, coordinating and managing all phases of the improvements,” county staff said in a memo about a framework document called a grant and development agreement. The agreement will require final approval from commissioners.
Next up to negotiate: a licensing agreement, which would establish how the grounds will be used. The rodeo recently sent a draft of the agreement to the county, Davenport said.
“The way this thing is written right now does not keep outside development from encroaching on us,” Davenport said of the grant and development agreement. “That will happen inside of the licensing agreement, which is the big one. That’s the next step. We’re very anxious to get to work and get this thing in front of them as fast as possible.”
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Davenport has pushed officials to proceed with the rodeo’s plan since learning about ideas floated by a team led by El Paso-based Hunt Development Group and Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. The group proposes building housing, hotel rooms, parking garages, commercial space and facilities for the rodeo on the Frost Bank Center grounds and Willow Springs Golf Course nearby.
The developers submitted the proposal in response to a public solicitation by the Coliseum Advisory Board, an arm of the county that at Sakai’s direction asked developers to pitch ideas.
The Hunt group outlined 3.6 million square feet of potential projects and funding sources totaling $879 million, including Proposition A dollars for updating the Frost Bank Center grounds. Hunt executive Rodney Moss said the concepts and financing are compatible with the rodeo’s expansion and reflect possibilities, not final options.
But Davenport said the ideas conflict with what voters approved, and would make it difficult to get livestock and visitors in and out of the grounds, and take away space needed for trailers. He said he would welcome development on nearby properties, but not on the Frost Bank Center grounds.
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Discussions about the future of the grounds became strained earlier this year after Davenport said he received a call from County Manager David Smith, who said he’d been told to pause negotiations with the rodeo as the Hunt group’s concepts were circulating.
Commissioner Tommy Calvert, who represents the East Side, has not weighed in publicly on the ideas, but Davenport said Calvert has expressed support.
Davenport sent a letter to commissioners arguing against Hunt group’s proposals, and has pushed to rally support on behalf of the rodeo’s plan and hammer out final agreements so the organization can begin construction. The Greater San Antonio Chamber recently put out a statement saying the county should proceed with making the organization “the defining anchor of the campus, as approved by voters.”
The grant and development agreement could be approved at commissioners’ next meeting on Aug. 18.
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In a statement Tuesday, Moss said the Hunt group remains ready “to help Bexar County define a business case to ensure a financially viable and sustainable project that best benefits all stakeholders and achieves all of the rodeo’s objectives.”
He said analyzing options for investment and figuring out a plan that the rodeo, county and residents approve of are the next steps “so this once-in-a-generation opportunity moves forward with everyone aligned behind it.”
Sakai said he has not spoken recently with city officials about acquiring Willow Springs. The rodeo also owns property near the Frost Bank Center, which is surrounded by a mix of empty lots, industrial buildings and single-family houses.
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“The possibilities for that area are multitude, and we have to have the best proposal that will fulfill the promise of revitalization, economic development of the East Side, that obviously was promised years ago when the SBC Center was built,” Sakai said.