November 04, 2007
Spurs arena spurs little development
Today's San Antonio Express-News takes a look at the neighborhood surrounding the Spurs' now five-year-old AT&T Center, and finds not a whole heckuva lot in the way of economic renaissance:
A new tattoo parlor on Houston Street appears to be the latest investment in the neighborhood. It opened in a stretch of boarded-up buildings in early 2006, said David Leon, the shop's ornately tattooed owner. ... Despite a lot of talk and studies, the neighborhood around Leon's shop hasn't changed much since Nov. 2, 1999, when voters overwhelmingly agreed to subsidize the arena with a venue tax on hotel rooms and car rentals. The team wants to tap into the venue tax again, a move that will be up to voters. The Spurs started with a wish list of $164 million in improvements for the AT&T Center. The county told the team to whittle their proposal to $75 million.
Adds Spurs spokesperson Leo Gomez of the notion of an arena-spawned economic boom: "We know better than that. It hasn't worked in any other community in the country. And it's not going to happen here." Now he tells us.
Posted by Neil deMause
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