Development planning to bring recreation, hotels to former McAllen Civic Center property

A new development promising to bring retail, restaurants and hotels broke ground recently on the long-derelict property on South 10th that used to be the site of the McAllen Civic Center.

 

 

In 2016 the city of McAllen closed the old Civic Center and had it demolished.

 

The vacated property was predicted to be the future home of an upscale shopping development, though no development happened.

 

For years, the 14 acre property in the heart of McAllen sat empty and almost entirely unused; its most notable use in the past eight years was possibly as the staging ground for caravan rallies supporting President-elect Donald Trump.

 

 

After that long wait, McAllen CityCenter is billed as a development that will capitalize on the property’s location and growth in the area while recognizing its historic value to residents and aiming to bring them valuable new amenities.

 

“We are taking a historically important piece of property that McAllen has and tried to redevelop — unsuccessfully – and we’re trying to convert it into a project that’s gonna be enormously important and significant for the overall retail and economic opportunity level for the city and is gonna make a significant difference in the city’s prospects,” said Castle Hospitality President Michael Fallek. “And we’re gonna try to create opportunities in a zone where there has been zero happening, and try to convert it from a property that had been barren to one that is going to be a real landmark for the city.”

 

According to the development’s website, the project is slated to have one or two Marriott hotels: a six-story, 200-room hotel with banquet rooms and potentially a smaller, boutique Marriott hotel.

 

Plans also include sites for two “notable restaurants,” a quick service eatery, office space and retail space.

 

The website shows two possible site plans for the project, one that includes the boutique hotel and a parking garage and one without them.

 

In both possibilities buildings are arranged around a central greenspace in the middle of the property.

 

Conceptual renderings for the development depict a variety of swanky-looking restaurants and stores, described in part as “elegant yet understated.”

 

Fallek says the development is in a very initial phase.

 

Not all aspects of the project are set in stone, he said, nor is its ultimate cost.

 

 

“It is a significant investment that is being made from an equity level, both in terms of debt and investment from an equity level,” he said. “And everybody that’s invested in it understands both the historical and the potential that it involves.”

 

Work going on at the development now is infrastructural.

 

“We are pushing dirt and installing new infrastructure that has not been previously installed and is going to be required for the significant investment that will be required to make the entire project a success,” Fallek said.

 

According to Fallek, the multi-phase project doesn’t have a set finish date, and it’s not clear yet when any of the development’s buildings will open — though he said when they do, it’ll be significant.

 

“We are very proud to be part of the redevelopment of this corner that will redefine what can be done in the city of McAllen,” he said.