CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — It's been more than six years since the idea was pitched for a south side sports complex. The development group that made the proposal has faced a long road, but the project hit another roadblock last week when a major deadline was missed.
The complex is slated to sit on 67.69 acres along the Crosstown Expressway extension, near Weber Road.
SQH Entertainment was supposed to have proof of financing in place for the city by Jan. 3, but as of close of business Jan. 7, it hasn't provided that proof.
So the question becomes: Is the project dead?
The amended lease agreement between the city council and SQH amounted to a last chance.
Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni told Scripps in November that he wasn't confident SQH would be able to prove it had the funding. The new lease allows the city to cancel the lease if there's a missed deadline, but not until after a 30-business day grace period. That clock started ticking Monday, and runs out Feb. 10.
The city manager’s office said the city sent a letter telling SQH it missed the deadline. An SQH representative said they'll be back on track long before the grace period ends.
That representative said the funding was held up because of the holidays. Several steps are needed, and the process moved slower because banks were closed more often than usual during that time.
The final deadline in the lease calls for the sports complex to be opened by April 2022.
