SAN ANTONIO – Batter up.
The San Antonio City Council is scheduled to vote Thursday morning on a plan to remake several downtown blocks along San Pedro Creek around a new minor league baseball stadium.
The proposal for a $160 million San Antonio Missions ballpark relies on also developing the surrounding area, including the low-cost Soap Factory Apartments. The new tax revenue from the development, which could include 1,500 new housing units, would go toward paying off the construction costs of the stadium, as would lease payments from the team, and a $2 ticket fee.
The team aims to open the new stadium on opening day in April 2028.
There are still numerous steps that need to happen before work would get started, but Thursday’s vote would give the go-ahead on the broad strokes of a deal with Bexar County, downtown developer Weston Urban, and the Missions’ ownership group, known as Designated Bidders.
Weston Urban’s co-founders, CEO Randy Smith and Graham Weston, are also part of Designated Bidders.
The council has been briefed twice on the plan in the past month. The biggest hangup so far has been concern for the residents of the 381-unit Soap Factory Apartments, who would be forced out in three waves over the next five years.
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Though the apartments are technically market-rate, they’re also cheaper than many other downtown options. Residents worried about seeing affordable downtown living slip out of their grasp are hoping the council holds off on a vote.
City and Weston Urban officials say there are plans to help displaced residents, including moving them into income-restricted apartments at another Weston Urban property downtown, getting them into apartments at Opportunity Home’s mixed-use properties across the city, and providing housing navigation help.
The Missions’ current home at Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium on the far West Side doesn’t meet the latest Major League Baseball standards.
Smith said MLB had given the team an Oct. 15 deadline to get the broad terms of a deal for a new stadium settled.