MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen City Commission has given the green light to McAllen Foreign Trade Zone so it can spend over a million dollars to purchase 200-plus acres of land to the northwest of the city.
Immediately after coming out of an executive session, McAllen City Attorney Isaac Tawil recommended city commissioners adopt a motion on the subject.
“Mayor, with respect to item 8A1, I recommend the City Commission consider a motion authorizing McAllen Trade Zone Corporation to incur indebtedness in excess of $1 million in connection with purchasing certain real properties,” Tawil said.
Isaac TawilThe city commission unanimously adopted the motion.
Immediately following the meeting, McAllen City Commissioner Tony Aguirre explained what the motion was all about.
“The Foreign Trade Zone board of directors put a provision in their bylaws which requires them to get approval from the City Commission before they can borrow more than $1 million dollars in any given year,” Aguirre said.
“So, we have approved them being able to finance a little over a million dollars to purchase 212 acres. They're getting it financed. So, after paying their 20 percent, they were at a million one hundred and some odd thousand and so the threshold of $1 million was hit. So, we had to approve it today.”
As first reported in the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, the City of McAllen has purchased 1,287 acres near Moore Air Base, an inactive U.S. Air Force facility located 21 miles northwest of Mission. The facility is currently being used by USDA.
Aguirre said the land the city has purchased falls within the City of McAllen’s extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). He said McAllen Foreign Trade Zone is purchasing 200 of those 1,287 acres from the City of McAllen.
“We now have those almost 1,300 acres that the City has bought, up north, right adjacent to the Moore Air Base. We have been working with the US government there, so we can help them with their needs,” Aguirre said. “And, in the future, we'll be able to use the runway for the industrial plants that McAllen Economic Development Corporation wants to have built there. It will also serve as a cargo landing spot for us and for them (new manufacturing companies), and they will have all the access that they would have if they were in the city proper.”
Commissioner Tony AguirreAsked how realistic the whole project is, Aguirre said: “We still have some land in the south, along Military Highway, but there are other companies that are not in need of being so close to the border. They just want to come and manufacture someplace (in the Valley).”
Asked if the timeframe to develop the nearly 1,300 acres was 20 or 30 years, Aguirre said, no. “We want it to be sooner than that. If there's a manufacturing company that is looking to purchase 100 to 200 acres, which is a lot, we’ll have some land available and if we can use the runway, and that is the plan, it would be very good.”
Asked if the 1,300 acres of land would soon be within the city limits of McAllen, Aguirre said: “It is currently in our ETJ but we plan to annex it.”
The Rio Grande Guardian International News Service also interviewed McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos. He said the biggest bottleneck to developing the McAllen Foreign Trade Zone’s 200-plus acres northwest of the city is the lack of infrastructure.
“How long will the development take? It depends. There is a lot of stuff we're working on. And a lot of it has to do with infrastructure, with water, with sewer. There is kind of a little bit of an issue because the CCN (Certification of Convenience & Necessity) is Sharyland Water Supply Corporation and they don't have the infrastructure or the volume or the pressure (to pump water) for some of the things we need.”
Villalobos said there is no doubt McAllen EDC could land some “big projects” if it had the amount of land being purchased to the northwest of the city.
“We know we can land some big projects. There are people looking all the time for land and that is why we (the City) have personally got involved. And we all know that the area in the south is pretty much exhausted for what we want to do. That is why we are going north. That is why the City has purchased over 1,000 acres of land in the north. That is part of the expansion of McAllen.”
Mayor Javier VillalobosVillalobos said it would be a big plus if the planned Hidalgo County Loop gets built on or near McAllen’s new parcel of land.
“Once we get the Loop everything will be in place. This is why we have been trying to work to get the money for the Loop with (state Rep.) Terry Canales. But, at the end of the day, I think we may be able to do this (the Loop) through some special funding from TxDOT. So, we're really moving and shaking.”
Canales is chairman of the Texas House Committee on Transportation. TxDOT stands for the Texas Department of Transportation.
Villalobos said as soon as MFTZ has purchased the land the City can start addressing the infrastructure needs.
“This is why we have allowed the Foreign Trade Zones to incur this indebtedness. So the Trade Zone has the money to purchase the land. Once it is purchased we can work on the infrastructure. We are planning ahead for industrial development.”
Villarreal said the City of McAllen also wants to work with USDA.
“We are trying to work in conjunction with USDA with the airport over there (at Moore Field). Things are things are starting to gel but the issue is going to be infrastructure. But, we will get it done.”
Asked about the timeframe, Villalobos said: “We do not know yet. A lot of it has to do with the Loop. We are not really 100 percent dependent on the Loop but it would really help.”
And what about a rail spur linked to the new industrial parks planned for the new land to the northwest of McAllen? Could there be a rail line from the planned Madero Rail Bridge in Mission to McAllen’s new parcel of land to the northwest?
“That is a long, long, way off. We will not be around,” Villalobos responded.
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