Missions investors get City Council OK to take over Wolff Stadium lease, a key step toward new park

With City Council approval Thursday to take over the lease for Nelson Wolff Municipal Stadium, a group of San Antonio investors moved closer to its acquisition of the Missions, new management of the baseball team — and construction of a downtown stadium. The group — led by downtown developer and Rackspace Technology Inc. co-founder Graham Weston — is buying the team from longtime owner Elmore Sports Group for about $28 million, sources said. They aim to build a stadium in the center city and move the Missions from the deteriorating 6,200-seat Wolff Stadium on the far West Side, the sources said. Major League Baseball has already OK’d the sale to Designated Bidders LLC, the company set up for the transaction, which is expected to close next week.

Ryan Sanders Baseball, a partnership between Hall of Fame MLB pitcher Nolan Ryan and financier and former Houston Astros minority owner Don Sanders, will manage the Missions and Wolff Stadium. It founded the Round Rock Express and Corpus Christi Hooks and built stadiums for both teams, according to its website. Reid Ryan, Nolan Ryan’s son and former president of business operations for the Astros, is a top executive at the organization. A council memo described it as “an industry leader in minor league baseball” and Reid Ryan as having “led the development of a game-day experience for Minute Maid Park that remains among the most highly regarded in major professional sports.” Exactly where the new stadium would be built, the construction timeline and pricetag all remain unclear. The investors group is expected to seek public funding for the project. One possible location is the former Fox Tech High School baseball field near San Pedro Creek Culture Park. Weston Urban, a real estate firm co-founded by Weston, owns about 3.2 acres near the northern end of the park. The firm is set to acquire the 2.3-acre Fox Tech field from the San Antonio Independent School District. In exchange, the district will receive 2.2 acres Weston Urban owns adjacent to the field. Weston Urban also owns nearly half an acre across Martin Street at 425 N. Flores St. and has recently approached nearby landowners about acquiring their property. A ball field would factor into Rackspace Technology Inc. co-founder Weston’s efforts to revitalize downtown and potentially increase the value of his real estate holdings there.