Arjona: We expect San Juan’s population to grow 10 to 15 percent in the next five years

SAN JUAN, Texas – Growth is happening every which way in the City of San Juan – residential, commercial and industrial.

On the residential side, the city has more subdivisions being built than ever before. On the commercial side, big announcements are coming soon of more development along I-2. And on the industrial side, the city is working on a land swap with the City of Pharr to free up space for an industrial park.

These were the big updates San Juan City Manager Ben Arjona provided the Rio Grande Guardian in a recent in-depth interview at his office at city hall.

“San Juan is growing very rapidly. I am proud to say this: San Juan is probably one of the few cities growing super-fast when it comes to the residential side,” Arjona said.

“We have about 29 subdivisions in the works as we speak. That’s unheard of. When I started back in 2015, 2016, it was about maybe just a handful of subdivisions.”

Arjona says that as he also serves as interim executive director of the San Juan Economic Development Corporation, his calendar is always full of meetings with developers.

Asked which part of town is the growing the most, Arjona said:

“Both sides, north and south. Kind of all over the place. Obviously, a lot of people want to stay close to the south side for whatever reason. But the north is growing as fast as the south.”

Arjona gave an example.

“We just broke ground on a property by the Rhodes family, and just in that subdivision alone we have 160 rooftops or properties going in there,” Arjona said.

“So, you do the math. We’re looking at about 3,500 to 3,600 rooftops in the next few years. We estimate that within the next five years, we’re looking at growth of about maybe 10 to 15 percent population.”

Arjona said that will take the City of San Juan to the 50,000-population mark. The 2020 Census pegged the city’s population at 35,782. Arjona says it is much higher than that because, just as with other Rio Grande Valley cities, there was a large undercount.

“We’re still a small city compared to an Edinburg a McAllen, a Mission, or a Pharr. And it is not only growth on the residential side, but also on the commercial side, along the corridor, which is our interstate. We are about maybe two months away from making a big disclosure as to who’s coming or what’s coming. Because there’s some big businesses, restaurants, steak places.”

Arjona said the city commission, working with the EDC, is trying to address San Juan’s historic leakage problem.

“Our advantage is very simple. We have the Basilica, which is the shrine. We get about 1.5 million visitors a year to the Basilica but we’re not taking advantage of that. We are retaining enough of that business. The visitors are taking off to the McAllen. So, we have a leakage of opportunities. That’s what we’re working on.We want the visitors to the Basilica to stay and enjoy a nice meal here, versus going to the City of Pharr, McAllen, Weslaco or Mission.”

One way to get the Basilica visitors to say in San Juan is to revitalize downtown along Nebraska and Longoria, city leaders believe. The plans for which are well underway, Arjona said.

“When we have finished with this revitalization, it’s going to be like, wow, this is beautiful. The landscaping, the streetscaping, the lighting, the businesses that we’re going to revitalize along Nebraska and Longoria. It’s going to be amazing. It’s going to take some money, but it’s for the betterment of the city, the community.”

Arjona said that within five to ten years, downtown San Juan is going to look very different.

“It is going to take us to the next level when it comes to revenues. As you know, additional revenues equals a better quality of life.”

Industrial activity

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Asked if he would like to see more industrial activity, Arjona said it is already happening.

Many years ago, the City of Pharr gobbled up the land south of San Juan and added it to its ETJ (extra territorial jurisdiction. That left San Juan with very little opportunity to develop industrial parks close to the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge. Arjona said his city does own land along the Steward Road and Dicker Avenue intersection but only enough to build parking lots, not industrial parks. Hence a decision to pursue a land swap with the City of Pharr.

“We flirted with the idea of a land swap a few years ago. We started those discussions, but we reached a standstill because of a political difference of ideas. But I think this is something that we need to re-approach and I think it’s something that we can work on,” Arjona said.

“There are plenty of opportunities when it comes to the industrial side. It is just getting our acts together and hoping that they all agree together. Because if they do that, the growth is going to be tremendous.”

As for specifics, Arjona said: “This is what we’re working on, on the industrial side. I’m working very hard to actually come up with this one of this space for an industrial park. Does the industrial site we are looking at belong to the City of San Juan? Maybe not. But are there possibilities for us to gather that property? Yes, there is.

Once we do that, it’s going to unlock another type of growth within the city. So, San Juan is going to be one of those cities that is going to be overpopulated within the next 1015 years. You know, the growth is coming. It’s inevitable.”

Asked if the planned State Highway 68, going north from Donna to Edinburg, would help the City of San Juan, Arjona said: “It’s going to help with traffic flow. We’re not going to see those big 18-wheelers coming to town.”

New Recreation Park

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Arjona was also pleased to provide details about a new recreation and education park the city is currently building.

“We’re building a humungous park on the north side. It is going to have two basketball courts back-to-back inside. It will have a weight room, weightlifting, a boxing ring, and classroom settings,” Arjona said.

“Outside, we are going to have a splash pad, soccer fields, basketball courts, walking trails, splash pads, barbecue pits, It is going to be great for family gatherings.”

Arjona stressed the educational component.

“We want to be able to say to the kids, after school, come do some exercises but also do your homework. We will have computers, good internet access, tutors. So, the kids can come over and do their homework.”

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