DALLAS – The San Antonio City Council will ask voters to approve $850 million of bonds, the largest bond proposal in the city's history and a major step toward redevelopment of Hemisfair Park, site of the 1968 World's Fair.
The package includes improvements to a new civic park that will anchor the ongoing redevelopment of Hemisfair, a concept that has been under discussion for nearly 50 years.
"After almost 50 years of indecision, the city of San Antonio is united (and) taking action to transform Hemisfair into the urban parks district it deserves to be," Hemisfair Park Area Redevelopment Corp. CEO Andres Andujar said in a statement.
Created by the city council in 2009, the redevelopment corporation is a nonprofit designed to oversee redevelopment of the park in the heart of the Alamo City.
The bond package also includes $10 million for a new athletics center planned for the University of Texas at San Antonio's Park West sports complex that is already home to a soccer and track stadiums.
The Hemisfair District is being rebuilt in phases, with phase one expected to open in 2018 in time for the city's tricentennial. By 2020, the Civic Park is expected to be completed.
The project will include residential buildings, historic structure rehabilitations, and infrastructure improvements, including streets and parking.
Dedicated park land at Hemisfair has already been increased to 18.47 acres.
The plan also calls for historic homes to be rehabilitated and adapted into park amenities such as local cafes, restaurants or book stores.
"Each building will be carefully assessed and the necessary steps will be taken to comply with Historic and Design Review Commission, Texas Historic Commission, and other city codes and ordinances," according to the corporation.
The city has negotiated a land swap for the Federal Courthouse property which received Congressional funding for construction of a new Federal Courthouse at another location. The U.S. Government will continue to occupy the Federal Courthouse until completion of the new structure. The circular-shaped courthouse served as the United States Pavilion during the World's Fair.
With $1.6 billion in limited tax debt, and $551.7 million in lease revenue bonds outstanding, San Antonio carries triple-A general obligation ratings from Moody's Investors Service, S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings.
Ranked seventh in the nation in population and second in Texas, San Antonio's economy is anchored by three primary sectors: military, financial services and tourism.
The city's population was estimated at 1.4 million residents in 2015. The 2014 median family income was 82.3%, per the American Community Survey estimate.
