MCALLEN, Texas - McAllen Economic Development Corporation Vice President Ralph Garcia and McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez were in agreement at a groundbreaking ceremony for the highly anticipated McAllen Nearshoring Industrial Park.
“It’s a beautiful day in the City of McAllen,” said Garcia, who emceed the program.
“So, it is a beautiful day in McAllen,” Rodriguez said, in the first speech from the podium.
However, McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos begged to differ.
“Do you know what? I’m going to disagree with these two gentlemen. It's not just a beautiful day in McAllen. It's a beautiful day for our region,” Villalobos said, in his short speech from the podium.
“We have Edinburg, Pharr, Brownsville, Mission, represented here. And why? This is going to create jobs and it's going to create jobs for people in Mission and Edinburg and Brownsville and throughout the area.”
The new industrial park, which is being built on the southwest corner of Ware Road and Idela Avenue in South McAllen, is being financed by CIL Capital. Villalobos pointed out that the founder and president of Commodities Integrated Logistics (CIL), Joaquin Spamer, had participated in trade missions to China.
“He's out there promoting our region, not necessarily McAllen. Our region.”
The new park will cover 117 acres and, when fully developed, will have 1.5 million square feet of industrial space. Lot sizes will range from three to 30 acres.
In his remarks, City Manager Rodriguez said developing the park was “an example of what happens when there is collaboration, cooperation and resilience.”
Rodriguez acknowledged that McAllen had been trying to develop the site for decades.
“If we have offered this site once to a potential developer, it's been 100 times,” he said. “On this occasion, the city insisted that if a developer was serious about making a project happen, that they had to eat the entire apple.”
Rodriguez said the city negotiated with multiple developers for the site. “And while there was doubters about this ever even happening, that Joaquin Spamer could deliver, here we are. Congratulations, Joaquin.”
Rodriguez said he wanted to recognize the efforts of Spammer and his team for negotiating in good faith with city hall and for making this day a reality.
“There is much to celebrate here. Not only that dirt will finally be turned and construction will begin, but we know that we are in great need of spaces like this and today marks that new beginning,” Rodriguez said.
“So, we expect that this site will not only be successful, but that it will be seen as a catalyst and an invitation for other such development in our city and in our region. Thank you Joaquin for believing in McAllen. We wish you much success. Thank you and God Bless.”
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of McAllen EDC Vice President Ralph Garcia recognizing the VIPs present for the groundbreaking ceremony and McAllen City Manager Roy Rodriguez's remarks from the podium:
https://youtu.be/JRuDbxjlYoE
Editor's Note: Here is a video recording of McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos' remarks from the podium:
https://youtu.be/wEezNkWuik8
