CARLOS CASCOS, EDDIE TREVINO ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF CONVENTION CENTER PROPOSAL

 

Former County Judge Carlos Cascos stands opposed to the current November 2 ballot item involving a 10,500 seat convention center proposed to be built near the intersection of Highway 100 and I-69, but approves the San Benito convention center project that broke ground today.

My interest is only in comparing the two convention centers, one proposed, the other breaking ground.

That's difficult to do without complete information and all offices are closed until Monday, but let's cover what is known.

First of all the San Benito project just breaking ground:  23,000 square ft. convention center, 142 room hotel and 5 acre lagoon called a "water feature," but likely for drainage as well.

The project does not list seating as it likely does not have hard seats like a coliseum, but is comparable to the Brownsville Event Center with tables and 17,000 square ft of space.

The Brownsville Event Center is currently too small for what used to to be an annual event before the pandemic, the Taste of la Frontera.  The last couple years the event was held patrons were almost forced outside to escape the crush of bodies in the building.

At 23,000 square ft., the San Benito "Convention Center is only slightly, 1.35 the size of the 17,000 square ft Brownsville Event Center.

I'm not excited.  That's a small venue, nothing approaching what's needed for a Luis Miguel concert, which I've chosen as my measuring stick.  LOL!

While we're comparing apples to oranges, let's bring up the city of Corpus Christi. They have a venue, the American Bank Center, with a seating of 10,500, exactly the size of what's proposed on the November 2 ballot for Cameron County.

Corpus Christi's 2021 population is 348,420 in a city covering 489 sq. miles.

Brownsville 2021 population is 183,677 in a city covering 146 sq. miles.

But, that's not the requisite comparison as this is a county project.

The 2021 Nueces County population is 362,830, while Cameron County's 2021 population is 425,211, 17% larger.

So, while Carlos Cascos questions "how often such a venue (10,500 seats) could be filled, based on the relative sizes of the two counties, a convention center seating 10,500 does not seem inappropriate.

Of course, financing is another thing.

County Judge Eddie Trevino proposes funding 1/3 of the project with a 2% tax of every hotel room booked in the county, 5% of every car rented and 10% surcharge on every ticket sold for events at the venue.

“It’s a stream of revenue that’s paid for by visitors, and this project would be supported by that stream of revenue, not by the property taxes of our residents,” Trevino said. 

“We’re not raising taxes and we’re not touching our general fund.”

I agree with Cascos on the financing.  A 2% hotel tax, 5% car rental tax plus 10% ticket surcharge seems far too weak to support 1/3 of a $100,000,000 project.

Can someone show me the numbers that support Trevino's contention?  What is the actual source of the other 2/3 of financing?

Interestingly, in one of the Facebook conversations about the proposed Cameron County convention center, former city official Ramiro Gonzalez weighed in, saying that no convention center in the country pays for itself.

As someone who followed closely the promises, actual costs, funding and the reality of Alltel Arena in Little Rock a few years ago, the predicted development around such an arena does not always happen as anticipated.

On June 13, 2019 the City of Brownsville entered into an agreement to allow Mike Hernandez III to harvest 7% of the Hotel Occupancy Tax to build, not only a 138 room Hyatt Hotel, but a minuscule 8,000 square foot "convention center," less than half the size of the Brownsville Event Center and a dual enrollment high school for, get this, "60 students in 2020" and "250 students by 2023."

Why would the City of Brownsville need another 8,000 square ft. "convention center," roughly the size of several event venues already in town?  

And, the dual enrollment 60 student high school?  Why is that "needed?"

Damn!  That Hernandez boy thinks small!  Anyway, we never heard if that project ever got off the ground.

Anyway, just for comparison with the proposed Cameron County Convention Center on the November 2 ballot, Payne Arena in Hidalgo seats 6,800 while the McAllen Convention Center holds 3,500.

So, while a 10,500 seat convention center for Cameron County seems to fill an actual need, funding questions remain.