WESLACO — Location, location, location. Officials here emphasized that’s why Weslaco is living up to its “city on the grow” motto, even amidst a global pandemic. And that location is also what has the city poised to become the residential, commercial and industrial hub of the Rio Grande Valley.
That shift has already begun.
Over the last year alone, the city has boasted hundreds of new rooftops, scores of new businesses, the expansion of its industrial park, and the growth of its public safety and recreational spaces. Not only that, but both undeveloped residential and commercial plots have been selling out even before their foundations can be poured.
“Weslaco has its doors open,” Mayor David Suarez said during a presentation hosted by the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation and the RGV Partnership at Weslaco City Hall on Thursday morning.
The presentation and breakfast was designed to highlight the city’s strengths to local developers and investors and was capped off by a guided bus tour of the city’s newest developments.
When it comes to economic development, Weslaco is “ready to give you checks if you bring the proper investments,” Suarez said, foreshadowing a sentiment that was echoed by many of the speakers during Thursday’s presentation — sentiments about the city’s aggressive efforts to continue its decade-long growth trend.
“This past year, between 2020 and 2021, the city has developed 1,400 acres of residential land,” said Rebekah de la Fuente, the city’s planning and code enforcement director.
“Altogether, including commercial and apartments, that’s over 1,600 acres. That’s a little over 300 (acres) of what we did last year,” she said.
The city has also invested in its existing industrial park — located next to the Mid Valley International Airport — setting aside over 150 acres for new industrial and commercial developments that will complement the 350% in growth that the small general aviation airport has seen over the last year.
The city’s EDC is also investing heavily in new businesses, offering as much as 10% in incentives to developers, according to EDC Executive Director Steven M. Valdez.
Both Valdez and de la Fuente led the prospective investors who had gathered for Thursday’s presentation on a virtual tour of the city’s 20-square-mile footprint, highlighting areas where new subdivisions are sprouting up across town, as well as restaurants, warehouses and more.
As the virtual bird’s eye view zoomed in and out — first along Business 83, then along the expressway, then over agricultural fields — one fact became abundantly clear: space is selling out fast.
“The really great thing about this, when you see all this development, is that by the time they are recorded, all these lots have been sold on reserve. They’re gone,” de la Fuente said after an overview of upcoming residential developments.
One such development — a 74 lot plot of land that will soon have apartments — has already sold out since its availability first opened this August, she said.
The new road and sewer infrastructure being installed for another development of single family homes spawned an entirely new subdivision, de la Fuente said.
“Growth is coming after growth, which is really great,” she said, adding that she had received permit requests for an additional three subdivisions just that morning.
For Valdez, of the EDC, the gains Weslaco has seen in residential, commercial and industrial development are what he called “a trifecta of growth in our community.”
The Valley as a whole has seen explosive economic growth over the last five years.
According to Sergio Contreras, president of the RGV Partnership, which headquarters in Weslaco, the Valley’s retail sales have grown from $12.6 billion in 2018 to a projected $15.3 billion this year. Binational trade through the Valley’s land ports of entry has also generated hundreds of billions of dollars of the nation’s gross domestic product, Contreras said.
“The value of trade through our borders has grown 305% — from $101 billion in ’94 to $451 billion in 2019, and it’s expected, projected, to go up to $1.5 trillion by 2050,” Contreras said.
And as the dividing lines between cities inch ever closer together as cities expand their footprints, forcing more regionalized thinking, Weslaco’s central location has it poised to reap generous rewards.
“Being centrally located means that you could live in Weslaco or work in Weslaco and your drive time to Weslaco is going to be 30 minutes in any direction,” Valdez said.
Though the city’s population is significantly smaller at about 40,000 compared to many of its Hidalgo County counterparts, Weslaco’s central location has allowed businesses to outpace their colleagues. That can be seen in restaurants like Dairy Queen or Olive Garden, which each boast the highest sales in the country among their respective chains.
“The sales that your restaurants are producing and the retailers are anywhere from 30-40% above the market average,” said Craig Garansuay, of the brokerage firm, Corporate Asset Partners.
His firm analyzed business trends in the region and found that Weslaco outperformed places with significantly larger populations, such as the city of Pharr.
Some 82,000 people live within a 3-mile radius of Pharr, and a total of 225,000 live within a 5-mile radius, Garansuay said. Meanwhile, only about 62,000 people live within a 3-mile radius of Weslaco, while about 107,000 live within 5 miles.
“Weslaco is able to produce greater volumes (of sales) with 32% less people in 3 miles and 110% less people in 5 miles,” compared to Pharr, he said
Investments from big box powerhouses, such as H-E-B, Lowe’s, Home Depot, and others are also putting the city “on the map,” Garansuay said.
They have “come in and demonstrated that there is a market here and that you could substantiate a business. And so, that success begets success, and Weslaco will be the beneficiary of new retail,” he said.
But still, the city is hungry for more. And because of that, the city commission, the EDC and other stakeholders have remained “aggressive” in attracting additional development to the city, according to interim City Manager Andrew Muñoz.
“I don’t want to tell you, ‘welcome to Weslaco.’ What I want to tell you is, ‘welcome home to Weslaco,’” Muñoz said.
“Because if you’re not here, we’re hoping you get here as quickly as you can, because Weslaco is the place to be,” he said.
