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How to pay for I-10 deck plaza? Backers say private donors to put up tens of millions [1]
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Date: 2025-04-14
Boosters of the deck plaza that would cover Interstate 10 in Downtown El Paso plan to garner $25 million in private donations for the project, which could be a key source of funding even as its backers acknowledge they’ll need to find at least another $100 million to pay for construction.
City Manager Dionne Mack on Tuesday will present to El Paso City Council a snapshot of the funding options for the deck park – expected to cost $207 million to build – including local dollars the city can contribute to it.
It’s a significant step as supporters seek to identify available funding sources for the deck. Until now, discussions about how to pay to build the five-block long park have been more theoretical than concrete.
“Our goal on philanthropy is $25 million,” said Ted Houghton, an El Paso businessman and former chair of the Texas Transportation Commission, who for nearly a decade has advocated for the deck park.
Ted Houghton
The Deck Plaza Foundation – created by the Paso del Norte Foundation as a vehicle to advocate for the deck park – also plans to seek $25 million from the state’s “transportation alternatives set-aside” funding program.
The so-called TASA grant has $250 million in available funding for Texas provided by the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The money is largely for transportation projects that don’t involve cars, such as bike- and pedestrian-friendly initiatives.
The city of El Paso could contribute $35 million for construction as well, although the source of that funding isn’t clear, according to the presentation City Council will hear Tuesday.
“I think you can build the park without any kind of ad valorem tax money associated with the park,” Houghton said. “It’s a mishmash of a lot of different funding sources.”
The cost to design the deck and the amenity-filled park on top is expected to be approximately $20 million. That initial phase of the project could be paid for by a $10 million allocation from the Texas Legislature that El Paso’s state lawmakers are currently pushing for, plus several million dollars in private funding and $1 million from each the city and county.
Tracy Yellen of the Paso del Norte Community Foundation discusses the downtown deck plaza proposal during a community meeting, July 30, 2024. (Corrie Boudreaux/El Paso Matters)
Once design is complete, the cost to construct the park is estimated at $188 million, according to a cost study that the Deck Plaza Foundation paid for.
“Obviously, we need to begin to get more specific about what the sources of revenue would look like, especially for the construction of the deck structure. So, it’s great that we’re able to make this initial commitment from philanthropy,” said Tracy Yellen, CEO of the Paso del Norte Foundation, which is the deck’s park main proponent. “This is a really important next step.”
Still, even if the city agrees to pitch in $35 million and the project wins both $25 million in additional state funding on top of $25 million in private donations, the project would still be short by about $103 million to complete construction.
The Klyde Warren Park in Downtown Dallas, opened in 2012, has been cited as the model for the deck park local officials want to build in El Paso. But roughly half of that park’s $112 million construction cost was paid for by private philanthropists.
Another challenge is the fact the deck plaza’s supporters – including Mayor Renard Johnson – have to secure funding rapidly to make the project a reality.
The Texas Department of Transportation is planning to solicit bids next year and start construction on its own project to widen the Downtown segment of I-10 in 2027.
The deck plaza has to be built at the same time as TxDOT is conducting its costly renovation of El Paso’s main freeway. And TxDOT has said it will build the retaining walls and pillars that will bear the weight of the deck atop the highway, although the state agency still hasn’t made that commitment in writing, according to the city’s presentation.
TxDOT’s construction plan is forcing the deck project onto an accelerated timeline, Houghton said.
“In 2027, they’ll begin construction on I-10, from Spur 1966 out at UTEP all the way to the train yard Downtown,” Houghton said. “If we miss that window, it’s over forever. And it’d be a shame.”
The short timeline and still-uncertain funding picture leave the future of the deck park highly uncertain. There’s virtually no appetite among City Council representatives to fund construction of the deck park by issuing debt that would increase property taxes.
District 8 city Rep. Chris Canales wrote an op-ed last week laying out skepticism about the viability of the deck project and questioning how it could be funded. Among other funding ideas, some on council have suggested tapping a pot of money that has around $19 million available, which the city normally uses to offer incentives to get companies to set up shop in El Paso.
“If the state and/or federal governments are able to provide the required funding, then by all means, we should take advantage. That would be ideal, but I’m just not so sure that it will be forthcoming, especially on the incredibly short timeline required,” Canales wrote. “I’ll only support a deck plaza if we can do so without placing a massive burden on the taxpayers without voter approval or using all of the money we have for job creation.”
If the park is eventually built, the Deck Plaza Foundation estimated it would cost around $5.5 million annually to operate it – which would include events and programming, hosting food trucks and other vendors, and also maintenance and security.
The Deck Plaza Foundation said it could put up money to fund ongoing operations and maintenance, and revenue from the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 5 could help pay for operations costs.
A TIRZ is a zone set up by the city, where investors develop properties to increase their value. As the property’s value – and property tax bill – increase, the extra revenue is reinvested inside the zone for infrastructure improvements.
In a written statement to the city, the TIRZ No. 5 board – made up of Downtown property owners – said they would be open to expanding the zone and directing some of the TIRZ’s revenue to cover deck park-related expenses.
Mack and others have expressed skepticism about the city’s ability to contribute to the park’s construction when one-fifth of the city’s job positions remain vacant and a municipal street repair fund is short by almost $40 million annually.
And there’s a perception that the $207 million cost estimate is inaccurate and that the ultimate project cost would be far higher. In his op-ed, Canales said the “latest analysis” suggests the deck park would cost north of $412 million to build.
Yellen, however, said that’s inaccurate. The six-acre park, along with amenities, will cost $207 million to construct, she said. The additional $205 million cost Canales cited would be additional private investment to build residential apartments and retail businesses adjacent to the park.
“The cost estimate of the project is $207 million for the six-and-a-half-acres of park space and amenities that are on the park. … The other $200 million-ish would be private investment,” Yellen said. “That would be the value of private investment in the area surrounding the park.”
Houghton said the construction blueprints for the deck have to be completed and money lined up in the months ahead in order for TxDOT to design its I-10 project around the deck plaza.
“We’ve got to, basically, amend the design of the interstate to include the design of the deck,” Houghton said, adding that the design documents will determine things such as how big the pillars holding up the deck have to be.
“We have other deadlines that are coming up that need to happen. They need to have a commitment of the dollars to do the design,” he said. “We’re looking at this year and the first part of next year as a commitment.”
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https://elpasomatters.org/2025/04/14/el-paso-deck-plaza-funding-city-council/
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