Tag Archives: Gateway travel center

Developer’s Belief In Mercedes Pays Off

It was all smiles on Aug. 7 for the ribbon cutting formally opening the Gateway Travel Center in Mercedes.

Mohamed Sharaf’s initial business visit to the Rio Grande Valley was one of getting a feel for a region where he wanted to build and open a travel center. The concept is one of a modern-day truck stop with lots of floor space for food, snacks and beverages with extra-large bathrooms. Think Buc-ee’s with a different variation of a similar template as designed by Sharaf’s Victron Energy Corporation. One of…

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Groundbreaking Highlights Travel Center’s Possibilities

Mohamed Sharaf, center, with Mercedes City Manager Alberto Perez, left, and Mayor Oscar Montoya, right, at the groundbreaking for the Gateway travel center.

Mohamed Sharaf found kindred spirits in Mercedes that he said reminded him of his father’s farming and agricultural homeland in Syria. The vice president for development of the Waxahachie-based Victron Energy Inc. examined various South Texas markets for a site to build a high-end travel center that would be reminiscent of a Buc-ee’s, with a look reflecting a community’s history and heritage. In visiting the Rio Grande Valley, Sharaf was…

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