WESLACO — Residents here looking for a bite to eat will soon have a lot more variety to choose from after a 10-acre retail plaza is constructed on the corner of North Bridge Avenue and Expressway 83.
Local dignitaries officially broke ground at the site Thursday to celebrate the future home of eateries like Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, McAlister’s Deli, Dunkin’ Donuts, Jersey Mike’s and more.
In all, the plaza will include six buildings that will be able to accommodate nearly 20 tenants as the City on the Grow continues to do just that.
“We are the heart of the Mid-Valley. We know that businesses are really working their way to Weslaco because there’s really something special here,” said Barbara Jean Garza, president and CEO of the Weslaco Area Chamber of Commerce as local officials and residents enjoyed samples from the restaurants that will soon call Weslaco home.
“Aside from a great community, there’s a great, great location. Prime location, prime real estate,” she said.
The retail development is being undertaken by Craig Garansuay, CEO of the San Antonio-based development company, Garansuay Group.
The commercial developer said he is investing $15 million to construct the project, which is expected to produce gross sales “in the neighborhood of around $21 million annually.”
The development will consist of two larger buildings set along the frontage road that will accommodate the four largest tenants. But who will take the prime spot at the corner of Bridge and Expressway remains to be seen.
Currently, two national restaurant chains are vying for the spot, Garansuay said.
“We’ve got a breakfast group as well as a dinner group that are working on that hard corner — both sit down restaurants,” Garanuay said. “There’s a little competition on it.”
Four smaller buildings — with a combined 40,000 square feet in retail space — will be located behind the plaza anchors.
About half of the sites have already been reserved at the plaza, including a Benjamin Moore paint store, El Torito meat market and grocery, a bakery and more.
While the majority of the spaces will contain restaurants, there will also be several service industry businesses, Garansuay said.
Weslaco leaders have worked for years to bring the plaza to the city, according to Steve M. Valdez, executive director of the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation.
“This is about a two-year project for us,” Valdez said. “We learned about Craig and his company because of his other developments in other locations. The idea was to reach out to him to present our numbers — the sales tax returns… really, that was the start.”
Valdez confirmed that the EDC offered Garansuay an economic incentive to locate the plaza in Weslaco by paying for a small percentage of the investment cost. Valdez said the EDC is willing to work with businesses to offer incentives of up to 10% of investment cost.
But it wasn’t just Weslaco putting on the hard sell that convinced Garansuay to invest here. Indeed, the commercial developer conducted his own analysis of the city’s business trends.
In December, Garansuay delivered a presentation of that analysis during a sort of open house the city held to tout Weslaco’s assets and advantages to other potential developers.
Garansuay’s analysis found that restaurants in Weslaco typically outperform cities with much larger populations.
“The sales that your restaurants are producing and the retailers are anywhere from 30-40% above the market average,” Garansuay said at that Dec. 2, 2021 event.
“Weslaco is able to produce greater volumes (of sales) with 32% less people in three miles and 110% less people in five miles,” compared to cities like Pharr, he said then.
Garansuay echoed those comments Thursday.
“The velocity and interest and the category depth of interest has really been exciting. We didn’t think it would be as robust as it is, but it’s been pretty voluminous, and so we’re real excited,” he said.
