The development of open spaces along Expressway 83 between Pharr and Harlingen is accelerating as developers look to fill gaps and bring brand names in retailing and restaurants to smaller communities.
Cities like Donna and Mercedes were formerly excluded from the Rio Grande Valley’s rapid growth of the last two decades. The same was once the case for San Juan. In the early 2000s, San Juan was a community that had only seen a nudge of growth. Today, the city is the home of luxury new car dealers, new coffee shops and restaurants along the expressway.
Donna and now Mercedes are seeing the same sort of developments. Weslaco has already seen its share and is rapidly developing more property sites for retailing and restaurants. Access to the expressway corridor combined with open property are bringing new interest to these communities. The direction of growth goes east along the expressway.
“We have available property,” said Alberto Perez, the city manager of Mercedes, who in recent weeks has been busy going from groundbreakings to ribbon cuttings in his community. “There are opportunities here. We’re centrally located to everything in the Valley.”
Neighboring Donna can say the same in seeing the emergence of retailing and restaurants just west of Salinas Boulevard along the expressway. The Donna-Weslaco-Mercedes expressway corridor is coming into its own.
“Being centrally located matters more than it ever has,” said Steve Valdez, the executive director of the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation, when describing Mid-Valley growth.
Finding A Midpoint
Joe Castro enjoyed the fanfare and buzz of a ribbon cutting of a new Starbucks in Mercedes.
The Starbucks district director had reason to feel the good vibes in being welcomed by city officials as the new coffee shop opened on a cool early April morning. Customers packed the house and a brass section from the local high school jazzed up the proceedings. Busy RGV commuters going in either direction can now make a quick Starbucks pit stop via an expressway exit in Mercedes.
“We didn’t have a presence like this between Weslaco and Harlingen,” Castro said. “Being here in Mercedes at this location fills that spot. We’re happy to be here to provide the Starbucks experience in a new location.”
Castro talks of seeing changing customer behavior since 2020, with more of an emphasis on drive-through service and quick in-store pickup. In smaller cities, however, there’s a bit smaller pace and an enjoyment factor to meet friends for coffee and conversation.
“There’s an excitement like you’re seeing today in Mercedes when we open a new store location,” Castro said. “In larger cities, it’s more hustle and bustle and getting your order and leaving. For smaller cities, a Starbucks is a gathering place. There are more spaces to do that in larger cities but in a smaller town there’s fewer places to meet, so we can be that place.”
More Opportunities
The Starbucks opening came less than a week after ground was broken on a new McDonald’s in Mercedes on Texas Avenue. The expressway is just a couple of hops away. Franchisee Hector De La Garza saw a city without a McDonald’s – a rarity in the Valley – and moved on an opportunity to develop available land along and near high traffic corridors.
“We have an H-E-B across the street and the expressway is close by,” De La Garza said. “It’s what we look for with good traffic and a great location.”
All indications are that market trends will continue to favor Mid-Valley communities.
Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, Chick-fil-A and Chili’s are among the major name brands that have opened or are making plans to build new restaurants along the Mid-Valley’s expressway corridor. Rooftops are going up with emerging subdivisions in the area with the expressway only minutes away for commuters heading to McAllen or Harlingen.
In Mercedes, Perez, the city manager, talks of prospects that look promising for further development adjacent to the outlet mall.
“Business always attracts more business,” Perez said. “We have more projects and announcements coming.”