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A community center, a “Metro Lagoon” water park, a pedestrian bridge, bike trail network and affordable housing are all part of the vision for a revitalized East Side that county leaders hope will flourish once the Spurs’ move downtown.
This month voters approved Props A and B to help fund the team’s new arena, as well as convert the existing Frost Bank Center and Freeman Coliseum grounds into a year-round stock show and rodeo district.
Now a “master planner” has been selected to take the rebranded East Side coliseum district and spin it forward into a much broader urban revitalization — an idea that hinges on western events drawing overnight visitors to support amenities that basketball fans never drew.
“Our ultimate goal it to create a walkable, thriving district that drives generational prosperity, celebrates the East Side’s history and delivers a bold, inclusive vision for San Antonio’s future,” a 48-page application from Hunt Development Group and Lincoln Property Company states.
It was the only application received in response to a request for qualifications over the summer, and gained approval from the Freeman Coliseum’s advisory board earlier this month.
Such promises have been made to the East Side before, including when the arena, now known as Frost Bank Center, was opened in 2002.
Leaders at the time suggested the eventual surrounding development could look like Southlake Town Square or Highland Park Village in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — something that never materialized.
This year’s plan envisions replacing the expansive surface lots around the Frost Bank Center to expand rodeo events on the west, while creating an “activated plaza” on the right.
“Year-round hotel, retail, entertainment, dining venues, parks, plaza, outdoor flexible event spaces and a connected network of well-lit walkable streets and hike and bike trails will complement the two-week rodeo celebration, creating a thriving destination for residents and visitors alike,” the application says.
It points to the redeveloped Fort Worth Stockyards and American Airlines Center in Dallas as inspiration, and suggests an implementation timeline of 15 years.
Little is mentioned about the city-owned Willow Springs Golf Course — once considered a critical piece of the county’s redevelopment plan, but that City Council members deemed gifting to them as a nonstarter.
A drone shot of Willow Springs Golf Course, located at 202 AT&T Parkway in San Antonio taken in August 2025. Credit: Cooper Mock for the San Antonio Report
The application says a pedestrian bridge would connect something called the “Willow Springs Park” to the new mixed use development. Meanwhile, an underpass and bike trails would tie in the surrounding neighborhoods.
To pay for the infrastructure and public amenities, the developer suggests a new Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone or TIRZ could capture the increased tax revenue from private development.
That’s combined with a county-affiliated parking authority that would collect revenue from new parking structures replacing the existing surface lots.
County leaders have suggested they could also take some of the new property tax revenue from the Spurs’ sports and entertainment district at Hemisfair and apply it to East Side projects — since the county-funded Frost Bank Center never delivered on the surrounding development promised to Eastside residents more than two decades ago.
“Judge [Peter] Sakai has a working group that is helping advise on what they think [East Side redevelopment] should look like,” County Manager David Smith said in a September interview about the new Spurs arena. “But what I’m saying is, they’ll have a budget, and that’ll be a direct community benefit back to the East Side.”
Prop A’s funding for a year-round rodeo venue actually wound up more popular than Prop B’s plan to help fund a new Spurs arena in this November’s election, even though voters at the time had little indication of what East Side redevelopment would look like.
Meanwhile support for paying to help move the Spurs downtown wound up failing to gain support among East Side voters.
“It’s no surprise that those who’ve been misled about how wonderful life is going to be if they just approve this way too many times already, we’re not buying it again,” said COPS/Metro Alliance leader Sonia Rodriguez, whose community activist group campaigned hard against Prop B through a political action committee.
As for the existing East Side features the developer plans to play up, the plan points to the business Tucker’s Kozy Korner as an example of the “cultural identity” it wants to capture through partnerships with music venues, art institutions and historic churches.
A new “Metro Lagoon” is part of the vision for new public amenities on the East Side listed in the master planner’s application. Credit: Courtesy
“Our process begins with a deep respect for the neighborhood’s civil rights legacy,” the application states. “Religious and cultural institutions that have anchored the Eastside for generations will guide the design.”
The rest of the inspirational photos appear to come from San Antonio’s Pearl District and The Rock at La Cantera, as well as the Hotel Drover in Fort Worth.
The water amenity is modeled off of Mirada Lagoon and Epperson Lagoon, both in Florida, and its creator, Metro Development Group, is listed as an associate developer.
The master developer will also be tasked with soliciting community input on the eventual plans.
“The first thing I would want is that a master planner actually review the past plans from 2003 to 2025. We over-plan to death the East Side, and we never implement what’s on the shelves,” James Nortey of San Antonio for Growth on the East Side said at a CityFest panel in October. “Implement what’s already been asked for, restaurants or retail, green spaces for the families that are already here, and improved infrastructure.”