A major downtown investment which comes up for debate at City Hall today threatens to become a major ethical stumbling block for members of City Council who face re-election campaigns this spring, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Council today will take the wraps off a sweeping $200 million private development of the northwest side of Hemisfair, which is being spearheaded by San Antonio based Zachry Hospitality.
The is the portion of a Hemisfair at Alamo and Market Streets, where the old portion of the Convention Center used to stand. It is not the part of Hemisfair which would be updated with money earmarked in the 2017 bond proposal.
ZH Downtown Development Company LLC, which is the Zachry subsidiary in charge of the project, is proposing a 200 room boutique hotel, 385 residential units, a mini mall with 50,000 to 70,000 square feet of ground floor space for restaurants and shops, and between 60,000 and 110,000 square feet of Class A office space.The project is in line with the city's downtown development guidelines, which supports 'mixed use' projects and encourages residential development downtown.
ZH Downtown is also proposing a 'several hundred space' public parking garage, which will provide desperately needed parking for visitors to the Alamo, the Riverwalk, the Convention Center, and La Villita.
City Council is being asked to approve the project, and grant ZH Downtown an initial fifty year lease, which would be renewable for an additional 47 years.
The plan is for the ZH development to help pay for the public amenities now under construction and planned at Hemisfair Civic Park, which is the main portion of Hemisfair along Cesar Chavez.
But the fact that Zachry is a frequent contributor to municipal races could lead to ethical issues at City Hall.
Several groups have raised allegations that the major project, and the potential for a nearly 100 year lease on major land in the center of downtown, appears to be 'payback' for campaign contributions made to members of City Council.
Activist Gilbert Martinez says he will call for Mayor Taylor, and all members of City Council, including Ron Nirenberg, who is running for mayor, to pledge not to accept any campaign contributions after voting for Zachry's project.
"We are tired of Pay for Play," Martinez said. "I hope all City Council members sign the pledge to keep our government clean."
City officials stress that the ZH Downtown proposal was selected by a 'rigorous bidding process' not by City Council or by any City officials, but by HPARC, the independent board that runs Hemisfair, and points out that the bid selection proposal followed all ethics guidelines.
"In March 2015, HPARC began the solicitation of two parcels of land in the northwest zone of Hemisfair through an extensive P3 process in accordance with adopted guidelines. Eleven responses were received to the initial request for qualifications. Through the subsequent RFP process, four proposals were shortlisted. In August 2015 and October 2015, addendums were issued which reduced the number of proposals to two. In January 2016, through the involvement of a Blue Ribbon review panel, a recommendation was provided to enter into exclusive negotiations with Zachry Hospitality," the City said in a statement.