Golf resort latest gem for officials to show off
In a banquet hall of the tall, pink San Antonio Marriott Rivercenter hotel, the city's business and political elite gathered Wednesday to laud the official announcement of Cibolo Canyons — the luxury PGA golf resort that has weathered four years of public strife.
"It was a very tortured process," state Sen. Jeff Wentworth said of the political struggle that went into creating the resort. It was a heady moment for officials who pushed for the project, and it came as part of a spate of recent economic boosts for the city: a new Toyota pickup factory; the ascendance of Valero Energy as the country's largest petroleum refiner; and SBC's acquisition of AT&T, the world's largest telecommunications company.
As that business growth and the recent speculation over potential major league sports teams make national news, Wentworth said that "it creates a buzz for San Antonio that's very beneficial."
So the big players took some time to slap each other on the back and graze on a fajita buffet.
They listened to the golf course designers and admired preliminary sketches of the two courses and the JW Marriott hotel. Developers estimate the completed resort will be valued at $1 billion by the time it's completed.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff was having a particularly good day on the heels of announcing that baseball's Florida Marlins are considering San Antonio for a new home.
It's exciting even if it turns out to be a ploy by the Marlins to make news that gets someone else's attention, he told Kenneth Jastrow, chief executive officer of Temple-Inland, the parent company of Lumbermen's Investment Corp., owner and developer of 2,850 acres in Northeast Bexar County where the resort will be.
"You know how you date one girl to get to the other girl?" Wolff quipped.
He later said that much of the groundwork for the region's growth has been done over the past 20 years. Now that growth is gaining momentum, Wolff said, it's time to push for everything that can be gained from it.
But officials should not equate success in sports development with the more meaningful growth of major industry, warned Char Miller, director of the urban studies program at Trinity University.
"I think big-league sports is nowhere near as important as the economic growth and the kinds of jobs produced by Toyota, AT&T and the like," Miller said.
For Cibolo Canyons, the project must overcome several years of opposition and bad blood.
Water quality concerns and a bill that would have given the resort eminent domain powers of a city raised an uproar from environmentalists in 2001, when Lumbermen's tried to set up a deal with PGA of America.
One massive public petition drive and two collapsed deals later, Lumbermen's, local politicians and businessmen struck a new agreement with PGA Tour and brought in hotel heavy-hitter Marriott International Inc.
Resort developers increased environmental protections and offered wage guarantees in exchange for a 29-year non-annexation agreement with the city.
Then they had to wade through the tide of negative public opinion and a late start in the legislative session to pass a bill that lets the district levy taxes and issue bonds.
"We tried our best not to let it get into the newspaper, and it worked for a while," Wolff told the crowd.
Officials are waiting on a development agreement that will pay for it all.
The pressure is on for board members of a public improvement district to hammer out the agreement with Lumbermen's and Marriott before Christmas, said board member Robert Rodriguez.
"I think we've been asked to meet as many times as we need to get that done," said Rodriguez, who is a member of a subcommittee working on the agreement.
County commissioners will have final say on the development agreement.
"It was a very tortured process," state Sen. Jeff Wentworth said of the political struggle that went into creating the resort. It was a heady moment for officials who pushed for the project, and it came as part of a spate of recent economic boosts for the city: a new Toyota pickup factory; the ascendance of Valero Energy as the country's largest petroleum refiner; and SBC's acquisition of AT&T, the world's largest telecommunications company.
As that business growth and the recent speculation over potential major league sports teams make national news, Wentworth said that "it creates a buzz for San Antonio that's very beneficial."
So the big players took some time to slap each other on the back and graze on a fajita buffet.
They listened to the golf course designers and admired preliminary sketches of the two courses and the JW Marriott hotel. Developers estimate the completed resort will be valued at $1 billion by the time it's completed.
Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff was having a particularly good day on the heels of announcing that baseball's Florida Marlins are considering San Antonio for a new home.
It's exciting even if it turns out to be a ploy by the Marlins to make news that gets someone else's attention, he told Kenneth Jastrow, chief executive officer of Temple-Inland, the parent company of Lumbermen's Investment Corp., owner and developer of 2,850 acres in Northeast Bexar County where the resort will be.
"You know how you date one girl to get to the other girl?" Wolff quipped.
He later said that much of the groundwork for the region's growth has been done over the past 20 years. Now that growth is gaining momentum, Wolff said, it's time to push for everything that can be gained from it.
But officials should not equate success in sports development with the more meaningful growth of major industry, warned Char Miller, director of the urban studies program at Trinity University.
"I think big-league sports is nowhere near as important as the economic growth and the kinds of jobs produced by Toyota, AT&T and the like," Miller said.
For Cibolo Canyons, the project must overcome several years of opposition and bad blood.
Water quality concerns and a bill that would have given the resort eminent domain powers of a city raised an uproar from environmentalists in 2001, when Lumbermen's tried to set up a deal with PGA of America.
One massive public petition drive and two collapsed deals later, Lumbermen's, local politicians and businessmen struck a new agreement with PGA Tour and brought in hotel heavy-hitter Marriott International Inc.
Resort developers increased environmental protections and offered wage guarantees in exchange for a 29-year non-annexation agreement with the city.
Then they had to wade through the tide of negative public opinion and a late start in the legislative session to pass a bill that lets the district levy taxes and issue bonds.
"We tried our best not to let it get into the newspaper, and it worked for a while," Wolff told the crowd.
Officials are waiting on a development agreement that will pay for it all.
The pressure is on for board members of a public improvement district to hammer out the agreement with Lumbermen's and Marriott before Christmas, said board member Robert Rodriguez.
"I think we've been asked to meet as many times as we need to get that done," said Rodriguez, who is a member of a subcommittee working on the agreement.
County commissioners will have final say on the development agreement.
posted by Michelle at 3:38 PM
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