Esperanza Homes from its base in upper Hidalgo County moved into the Brownsville market in recent years. It skipped over the Mid-Valley but it was a short-lived omission. Esperanza, a division of Rhodes Enterprises, had designs on the Mid-Valley all along. It established on paper a Mid-Valley division in 2020, which in Esperanza’s case, runs from San Juan to Weslaco. The company moved this year to break ground on Texas…
The City of Mercedes hosts its 14th annual Texas Street Festival on Sept. 3 in historic downtown Mercedes. The day includes live music, food and drinks, children’s activities, crafts, professional wrestling and a car show. Live performers include Control and Bobby Pulido. Proceeds from the festival will help support the Mercedes Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Program benefiting students from all Mercedes high schools.
Hidalgo County Commissioner David Fuentes pointed to red and blue lines and arrows running through his precinct. Fuentes explained where $80 million of drainage improvements are occurring or are in plans in his Precinct 1. The crisscrossing of drains, laterals, canals and ditches form a patchwork of connected corridors to store and move water. It’s a network that isn’t always streamlined, but it’s vital in getting floodwaters out of towns…
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…
The Expressway 83 space near the Rio Grande Valley Premium Outlets will soon have a major restaurant and fueling stop development as a 12,000-square-foot travel center comes to Mercedes. Waxahachie-based Victron Energy Inc. has broken ground on the development, which will be located on the intersection of the expressway’s frontage road and Mile 2 E Road. The travel center will serve as the centerpiece of the development, which will also…
The Rio Grande Valley has increasingly developed and opened nature and wildlife parks that draw eco-tourists from around the country in their search for native and migrating birds. Many wildlife enthusiasts recognize the Valley as the top birding spot in the United States. The uniqueness of the region as a premier wildlife area is something many of the region’s parks and community birding centers are working to convey to local…
Joseph Duenas sought new experiences after graduating from Mercedes High School in 2006. He joined the Marines. Duenas trained to become an infantryman and did multiple combat tours in Iraq. He would stay on after his military service, working for a security firm contracted by the State Department. “I spent most of my 20s over there,” Duenas said of Iraq. The skills and training learned overseas were put to good…
Joe Garcia leans out of his Casa de Hibachi food truck to talk cuisine. “We did research, at first watching more for amusement, but then we figured let’s do this,” Garcia said of he and his partner Ray Cano. “Let’s add our twist to it, cilantro, limes, the things from our culture. So that’s what we’ve got, a fusion.” The mixing of Japanese and Mexican food cultures is just one…
The intersection of 2nd Street and FM 491 for decades is where Mercedes residents and commuting Rio Grande Valley motorists could find the Ten-Ten Grocery Store. The beloved store that sold comic books, pickles and fishing bait closed in 2013. There’s a new business rising on the very spot where the Ten-Ten stood. It’s a Sonic Crush Drive-In. Community and business leaders gathered for a ground-breaking ceremony to celebrate the…
Conrad Gonzales and his crew were constructing the last of the pens that will house the hundreds of cows, pigs, sheep and a variety of other animals on exhibit at the upcoming Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show. It will be the 83rd edition of the annual spring affair in Mercedes. On a recent sun-splashed and crisp February morning, Gonzales was motoring around on a golf cart, checking on projects and…