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Source: The Monitor, McAllen, TexasNov.迷你倉 02--EDINBURG -- It's official: Alonzo Cantu's construction company will build an estimated $50 million arena to house the basketball team he owns on land he donated to the City of Edinburg.What's not yet official: Where those millions will come from."It's a partnership that we have in place with the (Rio Grande Valley) Vipers ownership, so it's not the city in itself," City Manager Ramiro Garza said about the project's funding. "We are going to have other partners to this project and I think in the next couple weeks those will be released in terms of the structure of this entity that's being built."Mayor Richard Garcia addressed assembled media members and city officials -- many of whom were dressed in Rio Grande Valley Vipers colors of red and black -- Friday morning in Edinburg's City Council chambers to announce the project.The 8,500-seet arena will be erected on 40 acres of land northeast of the intersection of Interstate-69C/Expressway 281 and Alberta Road. The property also includes nine pad sites intended for the future development of a hotel, restaurants and retail enterprises."Within 24 months, (the arena) will be the crown jewel of our city," Garcia said.Cantu Construction & Development Company will build the arena, a process that is expected to take 14 to 20 months. The facility could open as early as January 2015, Garcia said.As the majority owner in an investment group, Cantu previously owned the land, but donated it to the city, Vipers CEO Rene Borrego said.Talks between the city and the Vipers began about five months ago, said Gus Garcia, the executive director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, who was a city councilman at the time.The announcement will be the first in a series as the city has nearly consummated agreements with several commercial operations to open in the area, officials said. In addition to hotels, restaurants and shopping venues, another 90-acre "entertainment venue," will be constructed nearby, the mayor said."I think you need to get ready 'cause there's going to be a lot of new announcements coming up," the EDC director said.The yet-unnamed arena was key in attracting the other ventures, he added."I think that the economic development of a destination site-type project is huge," Gus Garcia said. "We have been talking to several retailers, as EDC director, we talked to hotels, restaurants, shopping centers, shopping entities, and of course when they find out about destinatiomini storage and traffic and places where people want to go, an entertainment venue like this, obviously, there's going to be interest."Citing figures from a University of Texas-Pan American study, Richard Garcia said the local economy will be boosted by $96 million during the construction phase of the project, with another $45 million in additional annual revenue coming from the arena.The new developments will revolve around the Vipers and their schedule, team President Bert Garcia said, an upgrade over the team's status at its current home at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, a facility it shared with a minor league hockey team."Anytime that you can be an anchor tenant, have your own locker room, not be moved around for many reasons, I think it's going to be something that we're going to look into," he said.The team intends to agree to a multi-year contract to anchor the building, though the deal has yet to be finalized.The project will be funded by a combination of public and private sources, though the exact breakdown remains murky."I don't have a number for you exactly, but I can tell you that it's a joint partnership that is building this, not just the City of Edinburg," the city manager said. "And we're one partner into this development."Bert Garcia said he did not know how much the team would invest in the facility.Edinburg will neither raise taxes nor incur debt in service of the arena's construction, Garza said.The primary role of the city -- which will own the building -- seems to be the designation of the area as a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, meaning the city will earmark a certain amount of the tax revenues from the site to be reinvested in the property."We're definitely not looking at our existing general fund or existing taxes to pay for any part of this development," he said. "This is going to be paid for privately, through the partnership, and also publicly, through future improvements that are happening at the site."City officials hoped the site will avoid the financial problems that have plagued State Farm Arena, which has operates at a deficit. They are optimistic the location closer to Rio Grande Valley population centers will be the game changer."This is being placed in an area that is already booming, developing, growing," the Edinburg mayor said. "That might be a difference."jfischler@themonitor.comCopyright: ___ (c)2013 The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) Visit The Monitor (McAllen, Texas) at .themonitor.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存