The San Antonio City Council gave the go-ahead Thursday to use a special tax capture district to buy a downtown site for a new Spurs arena as well as help fund projects at the San Antonio Zoo, Botanical Garden, and Brackenridge Park.

The purchase of the former site of the Institute of Texan Cultures from the University of Texas System is expected to cost up to $60 million and the three other projects would run $10 million each.

After factoring in financing costs, though, the land purchase could end up costing more than $115 million over time and the other three items each closer to $17 million, for a combined $166. 3 million.