Everybody’s been asking ‘What’s going to happen? What’s going to happen to the old K-Mart? When is something going to happen?’ Well, guess what? It’s finally happening.
MISSION — A former K-Mart along the expressway here has sat empty for years, but it hasn’t been forgotten.
And now, discussions held behind the scenes about what to make of the site are now coming to fruition with the groundbreaking of Mission Gateway — a retail corridor on the corner of Bryan Road and Interstate Highway 2.
“Everybody’s been asking ‘What’s going to happen? What’s going to happen to the old K-Mart? When is something going to happen?’” said Mission Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza. “Well, guess what? It’s finally happening.”
NewQuest Properties, a Houston-based commercial property developer, is redeveloping the old K-Mart site, bringing in Murdoch’s Ranch & Home to anchor the retail corridor.
The Montana chain has leased 63,237-square-feet at Mission Gateway, making this site the store’s fourth location in Texas.
“They’re very, very excited to be coming to Mission, Texas,” said Jay K. Sears, co-founder and managing partner of NewQuest Properties.
Sears said they’re in the process of finalizing a lease with Burlington and with an unnamed national, sit down restaurant.
In addition to those retail spaces, Mission Gateway will have 10,300-square-feet of brand-new inline space for small shops.
“We look forward to seeing what else comes into the surrounding area,” Gonzalez Garza said. “Whether it’s a national chain or a small local business, we welcome them with open arms.”
City Manager Randy Perez pointed to the important role these developments play in improving the quality of life for residents.
“Our goal is to ensure that residents have locations like this to come and to shop local here and not go elsewhere, and so that’s the opportunity that we want to provide,” Perez said.
He highlighted the city’s growth over the years, noting that from the previous year, the city saw a 16.5% in sales tax.
This shows how much growth is taking place here and around us in our great city.
Perez also pointed out the significance of the location of the development on Bryan Road which leads south directly to the Anzalduas International Bridge.
“With the expansion of the Anzalduas bridge, we’ll see an increase of traffic not only coming northbound but also southbound, ” Perez added. “This is primarily the first stop coming in for our visitors from Mexico and we know that we depend a lot on the Mexican economy and so this will be enormous for us in the Rio Grande Valley.”
Adding to the significance of the international bridge, CEO of the Mission Economic Development Corporation Teclo Garcia, said that in the first four months of Fiscal Year 2022-2023, there were approximately 450,000 traveling southbound through the Anzalduas bridge.
There were also an estimated 450,000 cars traveling northbound simultaneously.
“With two or three people in each car, now you’ve got over a million people that are crossing and coming through here and going right by this development,” Garcia said. “That’s a lot of people, that’s a lot of shoppers.”
The redevelopment of the existing structure is already underway and will include redesigning and expanding the store’s skeleton. Improvements will feature a new façade, exterior lighting and landscaping.
Work is expected to take approximately a year.
“This shows how much growth is taking place here and around us in our great city,” Gonzalez Garza said of the redevelopment. “The sky’s the limit on our potential.”
