13 Oct Harlingen EDC Moves Ahead With $97M Mixed-Use Project Near Medical District

Harlingen’s Economic Development Corporation is moving forward with a $97 million project that would give the city its first “live-work-play” development, according to the Valley Morning Star. Planned for a 71-acre site in the medical district, it would combine housing, offices, shops, restaurants and hotels, with completion expected by 2035.

Land in the area is split between the public and private sides. The EDC owns 19.8 acres. Haidar Properties, Anaiah Builders and VHG 1998 Properties own the rest. EDC Executive Director Orlando Campos said the idea dates back to a prior city administration and has evolved into a partnership between the public and private sectors.

One building is already finished. Garver Engineering opened a 25,000-square-foot, $5 million office on roughly three acres the EDC owned. The firm has roughly 50 employees in Harlingen and has agreed to hire 50 more within five years, with pay starting at $15 an hour, or $50,000 for salaried roles, Campos said. In return, the EDC is offering an incentive package capped at $550,000 that counts the land’s value.

More property tax revenue is the main payoff for the city, per Campos. Sales tax could rise too, he said, because people visiting or working near the hospitals will want places to eat and shop. He added that developments like this are fairly common in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio but new to Harlingen.

Cameron County is changing its role in the project’s funding. The site falls in the second of Harlingen’s tax increment reinvestment zones, a tool the city set up in 2006. Harlingen has put in 80% of the property tax revenue the zone generates, and the county has contributed all of its share. The county has now agreed to keep paying into the zone through 2035, but at 50%, Campos said.

That zone is also how the EDC plans to pay for the borrowing. The EDC plans to sell roughly $9 million in bonds to cover part of about $15 million in streets and utility lines around Hale Avenue and Camelot Drive, and officials plan to repay it from the zone’s account, which holds $4.9 million. Campos is also asking the city to set aside $1.88 million in escrow, which a city ordinance for developers requires, toward road, sidewalk, parking and utility work.

The build-out is planned in phases over the next several years, with the private landowners meanwhile courting retailers and restaurants.