{"id":85842,"date":"2025-07-23T11:59:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T11:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/85842\/"},"modified":"2025-07-23T11:59:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T11:59:15","slug":"plans-for-200-foot-observation-wheel-move-forward","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/85842\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans for 200-foot observation wheel move forward"},"content":{"rendered":"

SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 The City of San Antonio\u2019s Historic and Design Review Commission has granted Icon Experiences conceptual approval for a new entertainment development north of the Alamodome in St. Paul Square.<\/p>\n

The unanimous vote will allow the Florida-based company to move forward with more detailed plans for a project that some backers believe could draw additional locals and visitors downtown and tie into the City of San Antonio\u2019s plans for a multibillion-dollar sports and entertainment district nearby.<\/a><\/p>\n

The development calls for multiple rides, including a roughly 200-foot-tall observation wheel, as well as a plaza area, miniature golf course and dining space.<\/p>\n

Conceptual rendering of Icon Experience’s planned entertainment development just east of downtown. (Icon Experiences)<\/p>\n

Plans for the project, first revealed in spring 2024<\/a>, included a site located immediately west of Interstate 37 near the Shops at Rivercenter and a 200-foot-tall observation wheel called Grandisimo.<\/p>\n

\u201cIcon Experiences is making plans to add a giant, elevated entertainment experience to downtown San Antonio,\u201d one of the company\u2019s partners, Eli Stovall, said at the time.<\/p>\n

In April 2024, the City of San Antonio approved a zoning change<\/a> for the planned E. Houston Street site. But by August, Alamo officials began to raise concerns about the project and its proximity to the historic site.<\/p>\n

Plans for the project have since shifted to a roughly 13-acre site immediately east of Interstate 37, which is presently a surface parking lot. <\/p>\n

Centro San Antonio CEO Trish DeBerry, a strong proponent of the larger entertainment district plan branded Project Marvel<\/a>, is among those who have put their support behind Icon Experience\u2019s revamped plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe the investor group that has significant ties to San Antonio has done its due diligence in finding a location that is both appropriate for an entertainment asset of this magnitude and will be a draw for both tourists and residents to an area still in need of revitalization,\u201d DeBerry noted in a letter to San Antonio City Council members ahead of the HDRC hearing.<\/p>\n

Project backers must still secure final approval from the HDRC to proceed with the project.<\/p>\n

HDRC District 3 representative Gabriel Velasquez said the project could be a throwback to the city\u2019s World\u2019s Fair, HemisFair \u201968, a key sight that could anchor Project Marvel.<\/p>\n

Read more of this story at the San Antonio Business Journal website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s note: This story was published through a partnership<\/a> between KSAT and the San Antonio Business Journal.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The City of San Antonio\u2019s Historic and Design Review Commission has granted Icon Experiences conceptual…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":85843,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,64,36850,7236,9734,50975,58010,7202,58011,7203,50870,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-85842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-centro-san-antonio","11":"tag-downtown","12":"tag-east-side","13":"tag-grandisimo","14":"tag-sabj","15":"tag-san-antonio","16":"tag-san-antonio-business-journal","17":"tag-sanantonio","18":"tag-st-paul-square","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114902438020989352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85842"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85842\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85843"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}