Local government not responding. In the southeastern quadrant of the city of Pharr, including its extra territorial jurisdiction, there Is a tremendous demand for suitable land for warehouse industrial development projects.
Many investors see the area around the Pharr International Bridge as the perfect place to locate their warehousing or importation business.
Agricultural products and finished goods importers as well as manufacturers of various products are currently attempting to establish their facilities in the area.
Millions of square feet of cold storage and dry warehousing facilities are being proposed by a plethora of investors including one investor with six million square feet of warehousing space.
Hundreds of acres in the area have already been secured by various entities for warehouse and industrial development.
Several developers are already preparing conceptual renderings but find themselves facing insurmountable challenges such as a lack of sewer service infrastructure. This is affecting developers’ ability to proceed with current projects and meet client demand.
Certainly, this level of potential investment will be of tremendous economic benefit to our region. If funding is not available at this time for such infrastructure investment, what is preventing the local governments, particularly, the City of Pharr from being more proactive and aggressive in attaining resources to provide the needed infrastructure services?
At the latest Industrial Warehouse Summit, organized by the Pharr Bridge, the recurring theme from the stakeholders was the lack of sewer and water services in the areas where industrial projects are being proposed.
Business owners and real estate developers perceive this lack of effort or interest from local government as a major setback to their investment efforts.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by retired educator, business tax consultant and former Pharr city commissioner Eleazar Guajardo. The column first appeared on the author's Facebook page. It appears in The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service with the author's permission. Guajardo can be reached by email via: mr_guajardo@yahoo.com.
