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Posted Feb 14, 2009, 7:05 PM
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Registered User
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: The Triangle
Posts: 1,316
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Plan to sell La Villita, Market Square
from Mysa.com
Plan to sell La Villita, market sparks flap
By Guillermo X. Garcia - Express-News
Quote:
Inner-city Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros was put on the defensive this week after revelations that she's pushing the sale of two downtown cultural icons, Market Square and La Villita, to the politically connected Cortez family.
The proposal was presented Thursday in a closed-door City Council session and was greeted with strenuous objections by Cisneros’ colleagues, several said.
“We had a presentation of an interested party looking to purchase the square and La Villita, and a majority of us said, ‘No way,'” Councilwoman Lourdes Galvan said. “The gem of our history and culture is simply not for sale.”
Several other council members discussed the proposed sale, but only on condition that their names not be used.
Until now there never has been public discussion or debate about the sale of the historic city lands, and there was no warning such discussions had been undertaken by Cisneros on behalf of the Cortez family. Nor is there evidence that other investors would be given the opportunity to bid for the properties under her proposal.
Market Square, on the western edge of downtown, includes El Mercado. Owned mostly by the city, it has become a money-losing venture in recent years.
According to a consultant's report paid for by the city, San Antonio spent $227,000 more than it collected from its tenant vendors last year. The report says privatizing the operations, and having the new operators raise vendors' rent as well as adding other efficiencies could turn it into a money-making venture.
One council member said negotiations appeared to have started well before Thursday's executive session pitch from Cisneros, and included the signing of a non-binding letter of intent to pursue the sale for $12 million, along with a complex land swap.
That would involve the city, VIA Metropolitan Transit and the Cortez family, longtime operators of popular restaurants in the Mercado area, several members said.
A majority of council members said Friday that they would oppose the sale, but several left the door open for a lease or management agreement with the Cortez group.
Cisneros acknowledged Friday that she had discussed a project with representatives of the Cortez family, but said only: “Whatever you are telling me I heard, if I heard it, was in executive session and should not be up for public discussion.”
She declined to respond to colleagues' criticism of her role.
The Cortez family has operated several restaurants, including Mi Tierra, opened in 1941 by Pete and Cruz Cortez as a three-table restaurant.
“I think the Cortez family has expertise and should be involved in discussions,” Galvan said. “But in addition to being a huge tourist attraction, Market Square is a cultural icon for many, many Mexican-Americans and I don't favor the city selling it. The city has no business considering selling either one.”
The Cortez family, through a spokesman, said it wants to help “in the effort to elevate Market Square to new heights.”
In a statement, the family said: “We have in front of us a unique opportunity to make positive improvements to one of San Antonio's most prominent cultural destinations for the benefit of all Market Square stakeholders, San Antonians and visitors.”
The family, it said, is “proud of our long history at Market Square and ... we look forward to collaborating closely with our Market Square neighbors and our city leaders.”
It's not clear how the city would proceed if a majority of council members blocks the proposed sale.
“I think staff has sufficient direction on where we stand,” one council member said. “I think most of us consider this thing dead on arrival.”
Discussion of the proposal in executive session took more than one hour and featured what several council members described as heated opposition to the plan proposed by Cisneros, whose district includes both historic sites.
El Mercado was the original Farmer's Market. The consultant's report cites it as the third-favorite place to take tourists in San Antonio, after the Alamo and the River Walk. It's now a Mexican-themed market for trinkets, clothing and art.
La Villita, adjacent to HemisFair Park farther east, originally was inhabited by Native Americans and later by Spanish colonialists.
“This was a real big surprise,” one council member said. “Nobody saw this coming, and a number of us were quite concerned. The attitude from the majority was ‘How can we sell, or even entertain the idea of selling, one of this city's jewels?' But I guess Mary Alice was OK with it, even if she appeared to be the only one.”
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Side note:
Anybody up for pics on Monday?
__________________
The Raleigh Connoisseur It is the city trying to escape the consequences of being a city
while still remaining a city. It is urban society trying to eat its
cake and keep it, too.
- Harlan Douglass, The Suburban Trend, 1925
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