EDINBURG, RGV – Gus Garcia, executive director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, said for Edinburg, 2016 has been the year of ground breaking ceremonies and 2017 will be the year of grand openings.
About $200 million went to investments in several economic development projects in the City of Edinburg. Some projects include the 115,799-square-foot Edinburg Arena, the 9,700-seat Edinburg soccer stadium, the expansion of UTRGV’s College of Engineering as well as hospital expansion for Edinburg Regional and Doctors Hospital at Renaissance.
Throughout 2016, Edinburg experienced a series of ground breaking ceremonies such as Bob’s Steak and Chop House – a nationally recognized restaurant that’ll be the frontier for over a 40,000-square-foot restaurant plaza. The area will feature four other restaurants including Kumori and El Forno. Other restaurants will open up for service along TX-107 and McColl.
“Next to Bob’s [Steak and Chop House] is the outdoor dining that we’ve been looking for,” Garcia said. “It’s going to have water features [and] a central courtyard design because the community’s been asking for a place they can go to be outside.”
Edinburg will also open up Agaci at The Shoppes of Rio Grande Valley. With all the new development, over 1,000 jobs will open up, Garcia predicted.
Garcia said the city was excited to see the groundbreakings and now Edinburg is excited to see the grand openings. HEB will finally undergo construction beginning 2017, grand openings will occur for IMAX as well as two Hilton Hotel projects along the Trenton corridor and a groundbreaking for a new apartment complex at La Sienna.
“The challenge I think is going to be beating our numbers from 2016,” Garcia said. “[But] I just got back from ICSC [International Council of Shopping Centers – an organization to advance the shopping center industry] from New York and we had quite a few meetings with some entities that are really eyeing the Rio Grande Valley and looking at Edinburg as a place to locate.”
Editor’s Note: Videojournalist Apolonio Sandoval, Jr., contributed to this story from Edinburg, Texas. The main image accompanying this story shows a groundbreaking event in October, 2016, for Bob’s Steak & Chop House.
