city of weslaco

WESLACO, Texas - Three Weslaco leaders have spoken about their first time visit to the International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Dallas.

Mayor Adrian Gonzalez, City Manager Martin Garza, and Weslaco Economic Development Corporation Vice President Sandra Charlton gave remarks at a press conference hosted by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. 

ICSC holds conferences around the country to bring cities and communities closer to potential retail store developers.

ICSC, according to the group’s website, “promotes and elevates the marketplaces and spaces where people shop, dine, work, play, and gather as foundational and vital ingredients of communities and economies.” 

It also “produces experiences that create connections and catalyze deals; aggressively advocates to shape public policy; develops high impact marketing and public relations that influence opinions; provides an enduring platform for professional success; and creates forward-thinking content with actionable insights — all of which drive industry innovation and growth.”

ICSC’s annual national conference occurs in Las Vegas in May. An annual regional event for Texas and nearby states takes place in Dallas. It is called ICSC@Red River.

This year’s Red River event was held at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas, and ran from Jan. 31 to Feb. 2.

For the first time the RGV Partnership, the Valley’s regional chamber of commerce, had a booth at ICSC@Red River. The idea of the booth was for the Valley to promote itself as a region. After all, the Partnership’s new motto is One Region, One Voice.

On Feb. 12, the RGVP held a press conference to tell Valley media outlets how well the RGV did at the Dallas conference.

The emcee was Daniel Silva, CEO of the RGV Partnership. 

The panelists were Rene Alcala, of Killam Development, Steve Valdez of Weslaco EDC, Daniel Rivera of Elsa EDC, and Victor Perez of Pharr EDC.ICSC.

Valdez asked Weslaco leaders to speak from the podium about their experience of ICSC. Gonzalez spoke first, followed by Garza, and Charlton. 

Here is an audio recording of their remarks. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

WESLACO, Texas - New houses and apartments are popping up so fast in Weslaco that planners in other communities in the Rio Grande Valley are calling to ask what is happening, says the city’s planning director.

Rebekah de la Fuente, director of planning and zoning for the City of Weslaco, spoke about the “overwhelming” growth during a visit by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. 

The RGV Partnership hosts monthly bus tours of Valley cities, inviting realtors and investors to see what land is available for development. The most recent visit was to Weslaco.

“So, over the last year we developed about 1,100 acres (for residential development),” de la Fuente told the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, at the end of the bus tour.

“Right now, (this year) we are up to 1,400 and that does not include the ones that came in this morning.”

Asked what came in, this morning, de la Fuente said: “I have two residential developments and then I have an apartment development, the one I was talking about (earlier) that was developed back in 1974. They are going to go ahead and tear that down and we are going to remodel (it) into brand new apartments. That is really great because it took two years to get it funded.”

Asked how many new residential units that equates to, de la Fuente said: “So, for residential, we did 1,171 new units, which are single family lots, which came out to about 500 acres. And then for apartments, right now our number of units is at that 964. That does not include the ones that came in this morning, which should add about another 132.”

De la Fuente has worked in the City of Weslaco’s planning department for the past 14 years. She said it has only been in the past two years that the growth in residential development has really taken off.

“I thinks something is really happening now because I have been getting calls from other cities asking what we are doing to get these developments in,” de la Fuente said.

“What we are seeing in residential I have not seen up until 2019. I thought during 2020, with Covid, that we would see a dramatic decrease. But we didn’t. We actually saw more and more and more houses coming in, so it is just overwhelming, the amount.”

Asked what she tells other cities, when they call to ask what is happening in Weslaco, de la Fuente said: “I like to tell them that I think Weslaco is just the center everything. We have a good community. We are the biggest little city. So we still have that wonderful small-town mentality where everybody kind of knows everybody and everybody is willing to work with everybody.”

Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service's website. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.

WESLACO, Texas - Weslaco’s restaurants are being frequented much more often than might be expected.

In fact, pro rata, some national franchise eateries in the city are among the busiest in the whole United States. 

One explanation could be that there are not enough restaurants in the city, forcing local residents to visit them over and over again. Another possibility is that Weslaco is pulling in a lot of customers from neighboring communities. A third reason? Maybe the people of Weslaco eat more. 

These and other possibilities were discussed during a recent bus tour of Weslaco by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership. The Valley’s regional chamber of commerce organizes a trip to a different Valley city each month. Those attending the Commercial and Investment Tours include realtors, developers and economic development leaders.

Prior to the bus tour, the City of Weslaco and Weslaco Economic Development Corporation hosted panel discussions. The expert that discussed the local restaurant scene was Craig Garansuay, of the brokerage firm Corporate Asset Partners.

“Weslaco works because it is a real city,” Garansuay said. “There is a medical community, you have residential growth, you’ve got airports, education, high schools, college, trade.”

Garansuay said Weslaco has “all of the ingredients” needed to build a thriving community.

“Retail follows the rooftops, industrial brings the rooftops. And so you have got the culmination of all those ingredients coming together to create a hub for the Mid-Valley.”

Editor's Note: To read the full story go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service's website. 

To read the new stories and watch the news videos of the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service go to www.riograndeguardian.com.