By KGNS Staff
Published: May. 14, 2024 at 6:30 PM CDT
LAREDO, TX (KGNS) - After years of discussion, the City of Laredo is moving forward with plans for a new convention center.
On Monday, May 14, 2024, the City of Laredo held a workshop where they spoke about the possibility of building a new convention center as well as some of the potential locations.
Laredo Convention & Visitors Bureau Assistant Director, Joel Vasquez went before city council with a timeline of events associated with the project.
The first feasibility study to build a convention center took place in 2005, which constituted exhibit space, breakrooms, and be in the proximity of hotels.
During that year, the Laredo Civic Center had not been sold and the feasibility study included renovation and upgrades to it; however, the City of Laredo would eventually sell the Civic Center to the Laredo Independent School District in 2013.
That same year, a second study included a national branded hotel, a ballroom, junior ballroom, meeting rooms, board rooms, amenities that included a restaurant, coffee kiosk, business center, internet, swimming pool and fitness center.
A third study was conducted in 2013, that included a multipurpose hall, junior ballroom, breakout meeting room, and it would be attached to a national branded hotel.
Some of the proposed locations for a new convention center would be next to Loop 20 between Sinatra Parkway & Arena Boulevard, adjacent to the Sames Auto Arena which was then known as the Laredo Energy Arena.
Another possible location would be located in downtown Laredo; however, the study did not specify where it would be built.
The fourth study was conducted in 2016, which included some of the same features proposed in the second and third study, except the square footage for the rooms would be larger.
Another study was conducted in 2017, however details of it were not mentioned during the workshop.
In 2020, city council voted to reallocate the funds acquired from the sale of the former Civic Center to be transferred to the Bruni Library and the Plaza Theatre renovations.
The total sale came out to $15,951,737.
The city put 3.6 million in the general fund and $12,351,737 in the capital improvement funds.
The city then did an expense budget allocation in the CFI for over $250,000 for the Laredo Plaza Theatre improvements, over 12 million for the Plaza Theatre expansion, and over $13,000 for lighting.
During the workshop, a presentation included the square footage required to fit anywhere from 200 to 600 attendees.
The presentation also included some of the potential locations for the project.
The first possible location was Zone A: Downtown Laredo, which showed the existing hotels and if approved, additional meeting venues for meetings would be the Plaza Theatre, Laredo Center for the Arts, American Legion, El Portal, the Outlet Shoppes at Laredo, and Laredo Collage.
While the downtown area has been an option in the past, during the presentation it was revealed that the zone has plenty of shops; however, there are not enough restaurants in the area and not all 258 rooms would be available if a conference were to take place.
The second possible location was Zone B: Mall Del Norte, which is made up of seven hotels that offer 786 rooms.
During the presentation, it was revealed that while there are plenty of restaurants, there are not enough additional venues to accommodate for a meeting space and much like the downtown area, not all rooms from the existing hotels would be available if they were to hold a conference.
The third location proposed was Zone C: Loop 20, which consists of seven hotels, 769 rooms located near TAMIU, the Sames Auto Arena, and UniTrade Stadium that can serve as additional venues, if necessary.
The fourth location that was discussed was Zone D, which would be located by San Bernardo.
The San Bernardo area consists of 12 hotels with 1,453 rooms combined plus one of the hotels is pending renovation of the DoubleTree by Hilton.
During the presentation, the issues of availability were once again brought up and how not all of the 1,453 rooms will be available of the existing hotels would be available if a conference were to happen.
The fifth and final zone proposed was Zone E, in south Laredo near the future sports complex on Cuatro Vientos.
The area consists of two hotels with 204 rooms; however, the area lacks restaurants and shops.
The issues of available hotel rooms was brought up once again in the event of a possible conference.
The presentation also included what Laredo can currently host, which includes a conference of 200 attendees; however, due to space limitations, general session setup needs to be converted to a banquet which would take place at a designated location.
During the presentation, Laredo was compared to other South Texas cities such as Abilene, Brownsville, Corpus Christi, and Lubbock.
Community Development Director, Tina Martinez, showed councilmembers the properties the city owns or is interested in buying near Zone A, B, C, D and E where the proposed center could be built.
In Zone A, in downtown Laredo, the city owns two properties. The first is located at 1800 Water Street the second is located at 1800 Ventura Street.
In Zone B, Mall Del Norte, the city has looked at properties located at 210 Calle Del Norte and an unspecified location on Calle Del Norte and Springfield Avenue.
When it comes to Zone C near Loop 20, the city owns properties located at 6511 Sinatra Parkway, 6319 Sinatra Parkway, and 6320 Sinatra Parkway.
The city inquired information about the former Regal Theater, also located in Zone C, that is up for sale as a potential convention center site.
The city spoke about some of the possible sites near Zone D on San Bernardo and the area where the old Cinemark Theater was discussed; however, the city confirmed that the location has already been sold.
In Zone E, the city stated that it has inquired information on three properties near the sports complex. The first on Cuatro Vientos & Pita Mangana, the second on Cuatro Vientos and Lomas Del Sur.
During the meeting, Miriam Castillo, the economic development director, presented the council the different methods and partnerships other cities have developed when creating a convention center.
The first method proposed included the city entering a public private partnership with an investor to create the hotel/convention center. The second is to enter a Chapter 380- Economic Development Program, the third to create a Chapter 334 - City Venue Property tax, the fourth is to create is Chapter 351- Municipal Hotel Occupancy Taxes.
The council was shown venues where the methods and partnerships were created and in turn, a convention center was created. Some of the locations and centers include: Kalahari Resorts & Conventions in Round Rock, Irving Convention Center in Irving, and the Double Tree in Abilene.
When the presentation concluded, some council members were concerned about the location and stated it played a factor in approving the project.
District 4 Council Member, Alberto Torres, expressed his concerns for Zone C: Loop 20 as a potential site for the convention center.
“The only trouble I have with Zone C (Loop 20) is, what are we going to say? Come and shop at our car dealership locations in Laredo?” Torres stated. “There really is nothing for these people to do.”
Torres also expressed interest in the downtown area.
“We left out in the presentation that we did have a PPP agreement in place that fell through with La Posada Hotel, they were willing to invest most of the money,” said Torres. “So as long as the voters would approve the vehicle or tourism tax that didn’t pass. But we also have a PPP model that we were already going to establish that because of the caveat didn’t go through, right, so we might want to consider that and image that proposal with any other hotel that is interested. But remove that taxation part that the late Norbert Dickman wanted to incorporate in the scenario. My whole point is before we choose locations, what amenities do we have in the different plans you are all proposing today, that will say this location will work because it offers dining, shopping, tourism attractions because if not there is no point in us dropping 40 million dollars for a project that will not attract any conventions to our city.”
District 5 Councilmember, Ruben Gutierrez, stated that he understood the lack of amenities Laredo has to offer but there are attractions for tourists to visit.
“A water park? I would love to have one for the City of Laredo, but the fact of the matter is, we are in a water crunch,” said Gutierrez. “We know that, we all know that. I certainly don’t want to vote for a water park over asking for drinking water.”
Laredo City Manager Joseph Neeb recommended to council, if they take any type of action, to consider the public private partnership and “go fishing” which was later clarified as submitting a request for proposal.
“I would like to make that motion, for the city manager to go out and look for private partnerships to see what we can do. What they have to offer as well because it will really depend on that. Are they able to fund what we need or our necessities are or is it simply something we don’t need and see how far they are willing to work with us” Gutirrez said.
The motion was passed by council but later reamended to ask staff to explore if the convention center could be tied to the sports complex project.
District Three Councilmember Melissa Cigarroa asked for clarification for funds of the Civic center, and the difference between a civic center and a convention center. Meanwhile, District 7 Councilmember, Vanessa Perez, addressed that Laredo has amenities available but the transportation system is not like other cities.
For more headlines. click here.
Copyright 2024 KGNS. All rights reserved.
