During a tense meeting Thursday, a Lubbock County oversight group wanted more answers about a proposed $67 million expo center at North Loop and North University Avenue. The group took no action.
The Lubbock County Expo Center (LCEC) non-profit board presented its plan to Lubbock County’s Local Government Corporation (LGC) board, a day after unveiling it at a Wednesday press conference. Click here to see the full press conference.
Highlights of the proposed expo center:
- Based on Abilene’s Taylor Telecom Arena
- $55 million in construction cost
- Other expenses add up to $67 million total development cost
- 129,000 square feet
- 5,500 permanent seats
- 7,000 total with floor seating
- Accommodation for concrete floor and dirt floor events
Tensions ran highest in the LCG meeting when some county officials said they felt they hadn’t received full answers – especially concerning money needing to be borrowed to make the project work.
The board meets again in December to hear from specialized lawyers called “bond counsel” who will talk about the possibility of Lubbock County borrowing $32 million for constructing the building. That debt – if it happens – would be paid by a hotel occupancy tax Lubbock County voters approved in 2018.
But there were also questions about LCEC borrowing up to $20 million to be paid back with private donations.
A point of contention rose when some LGC board members had seen more documentation than others including the terms Plains Capital Bank offered on a potential LCEC loan.
County Auditor Kathy Williams and the county’s Civil Division Chief Neal Burt also had concerns.
Williams said, “We’ve met here for four years, and I’m still not getting the questions answered that I need.”
LGC member Dwight McDonald demanded to know the terms of the loan and what would be the collateral. He was told some of the details are confidential. He was not satisfied with that answer.
“I’m at a point now where I’m not willing to ‘Just take my word for this’ anymore. Because back in March of 2024, we took their word for it. We … said, ‘Hey, we’re 6 or $7 million away from our $87 million budget. And then it turns out that we weren’t anywhere close,” McDonald said.
LCEC Chairman Randy Jordan defended some of the need for confidentiality, saying, “I would not want you to take that term sheet and make that a matter of public record.”
Banks need to keep some details private, Jordan said. And the loan is needed because pledges of private support are sometimes spread across three to five years on bigger gifts.
The LCEC has nothing to hide, Jordan said, but sometimes donors and private partners want confidentiality.
LGC board member Gary Boren said, “I understand what you’re doing because you’re thinking exactly like a businessman in the private sector does. But you all have come to the county, a public government, and said, ‘We want you to participate with us in a public, private manner.’ When you do that, you’ve changed your dynamics of information.”
The plan also anticipates the expo center will lose an estimated $500,000 per year. That figure does not include revenue from naming rights, personal seat licenses, a percentage of sales on merchandise and some other things. So, the operating loss might be less, according to the plan.
The plan anticipates $2.4 million in revenue and $2.9 million in expenses on 64 events per year. The total estimated attendance is 212,000 per year.
So how would the expo center cover the potential yearly loss?
Consultant Greg Garfield told the LGC there will be leftover money from the hotel tax – possibly between $800,000 and $1 million per year.
“There will be excess venue tax over what has to be paid on county … debt service that will – that should be, in my opinion – the first source of revenue to pay operating expenses on the project,” Garfield said.
As the meeting went over two hours long, some members of the LGC board began to leave. The chairman adjourned the meeting.
In Jordan’s Wednesday press conference, he said he hoped the LGC would approve the plan and bring it to County Commissioners this month for final approval. But LGC took no action and scheduled the December meeting. Beyond that, when a decision could happen is not clear.
While Jordan and Garfield were challenged in the LGC meeting, Jordan was able to make his case the day before in a press conference without interruption.
“We feel that this plan for the Lubbock County Expo Center is affordable, viable, and let’s just get started with phase one of a multi-purpose event venue,” Jordan said.
Fundraising took longer than it should in part because of COVID and some donor support was lost, he added.
But “countless” donors remain, he said, because of “tireless work” on fundraising.
The original plan was affordable, Jordan claimed.
“Because of record inflation and construction cost, we watched the cost of those plans balloon,” Jordan said in the press conference.
The expo center, when finished will be a glorious time, Jordan said – hosting concerts, monster trucks, motocross, livestock events and perhaps most importantly the ABC Rodeo which is the primary fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Club of Lubbock.
Jordan freely admitted it may lose money each year on operating costs, saying, “I’m just going to be frank with you. Most of them do.”
That’s the same claim about operating loss a joint city/county study made back in October, which LubbockLights.com covered here.
“The venue is not necessarily ‘for profit,’ but the economic impact of bringing people to Lubbock – serving our restaurants, buying fuel, shopping, staying in our hotels and motels. That is what the multi-event center will do for Lubbock,” Jordan said.
