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MISSION — The atmosphere here was jubilant as officials celebrated what will become a decade-long investment in the growth of Mission’s role in binational trade.
“Today is a great day in the city of Mission. I am so, so excited to be here,” Mayor Norie Gonzalez Garza said before a crowd that had gathered at a dusty patch of earth off the corner of West Military Highway and Bryan Road south of town.
The mayor was speaking of a multimillion-dollar investment by Union Design Developers, or UDD, owned by the Castillo family — Mission natives who have spearheaded residential and industrial developments across the city.
On Tuesday, Gonzalez Garza and other local dignitaries gathered to help the Castillos usher in their latest project — a 145-acre industrial park that will help Mission clinch lucrative binational commerce originating from the Anzalduas International Bridge just three miles away.
“This is gonna be the cornerstone of this whole entire area,” Gonzalez Garza said.
“Thank you, Castillo family, for believing in the city of Mission and being our partners in this project,” the mayor added a moment later.
The project will be constructed in phases over the next 8-10 years, UDD owner, Luis Rodrigo Castillo, said shortly after the groundbreaking.
In all, the industrial park will include about 6.3 million square feet of mixed-use industrial space, with about 2.2 million square feet of that being devoted to warehousing.
That warehouse space could come in the form of cold or dry storage, depending on the needs of a particular client, Castillo said.
But the first phase — the anchor of the entire development — has already been determined.
“It’s gonna be 110,000 square feet. That one is gonna be cold (storage),” Castillo said.
The company, which Castillo declined to name, is also local to Mission.
“They are excited. They’re ready to go. The funding is ready,” Castillo said.
Construction on phase one is expected to take 12-18 months at a cost of $50 million or more — an investment being made by UDD without any economic incentives from the city.
“The development alone has not received any incentives,” Teclo Garcia, CEO of the Mission Economic Development Corporation, said.
However, as construction proceeds, the city and its EDC would be willing to facilitate development in the form of property tax abatements or funding the installation of infrastructure, such as water lines, Garcia said.
“We’ll step in to try to provide incentives if they’re needed,” Garcia said.
Meanwhile, full buildout of the industrial park will take nearly a decade.
“The full area of 145 acres, that is designated for this is gonna take around 8-10 years,” Castillo said.
Castillo said his company chose the site due to its proximity to the bridge, which lies just over three miles to the south.
“The fact that we’re a stone’s throw away from Anzalduas makes this a strategic point,” Castillo said.
And while the city of Mission will reap dividends from the industrial park, the region as a whole will also benefit, Garcia said, referring to the industrial park as a “regional asset.”
But it’s not just the park that will be a regional asset. The bridge itself is, too.
The port of entry is jointly owned by the cities of McAllen, Mission and Hidalgo.
Tuesday’s groundbreaking neatly dovetails with a massive expansion of the bridge’s capacity that began last year when McAllen officials secured tens of millions of dollars to add commercial lanes.
The North American Development Bank, a binational financial institution operated by the United States and Mexican governments, agreed to finance $63 million of the bridge expansion costs.
Meanwhile, another $25 million in funding is coming via a federal INFRA grant, a part of the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill, and another $22 million in grants from TxDOT.
The expansion includes the construction of six commercial lanes, a new cargo processing center, administrative offices, inspection booths, roadways and parking lot improvements, and more.
As strong winds kicked up eddies of dust that swirled around the crowd during Tuesday’s groundbreaking, Garcia quipped that it was a good thing.
“This is a mark of progress. Those dirty shoes, that dirt flying around, that’s what we want to see here in Mission,” he said.
