Edinburg leaders have big plans for South Texas International Airport

EDINBURG, Texas – Edinburg leaders have big plans for South Texas International Airport.

Located nine miles north of Edinburg town center, STIA is the Rio Grande Valley’s northernmost jet-capable airport serving business class aviation. It is 25 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

In an exclusive interview with Ron Whitlock Reports, Raudel Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, said a study is currently underway to look at the best way of developing 300 acres on the south side of the runway.

“We were doing a masterplan so that we can work on the development of what I would call the south side of the runway. There’s about 600 acres or so available around the airport,” Garza explained.

“We’ve received some monies from the state to expand the runway… to make sure that it is high enough to where rain events don’t cause any kind of delays for any aircraft that want to use the airport.”

Garza said Edinburg city leaders have wanted to do more with their airport for some time.

“Right now, we do have some private aircraft that are out there, and some state aircraft as well. The state has built in a new facility out there right now, so they continue to expand out there, but there’s just so much more that we can do,” Garza said. “And so, we wanted to see how much it would cost to develop those lands.”

Garza said EEDC has hired an engineering firm to analyze what should be done on the south side of the airport.

“So, this study kind of encompass about 300 acres or so, and we have a very good feel for what we need to do in terms of future development.”

Garza hastened to add that things are not going to happen overnight.

“It’s not going to happen at once, because bringing the utilities into that area and adding that infrastructure is quite an undertaking, and so we’re going to develop it in phases and just continue to work on marketing those properties.”

Some of the new companies Edinburg EDC is looking to attract are in the aeronautical sector, Garza said.

“We want them to take advantage of a great location. Not only is it (the airport) on I-69. It’s also right at the intersection of the new future (State) Highway 68 that TxDOT will be building very, very soon. It is a location that would be ideal for logistics.”

STIA’s website has this information:

• Owned, operated, and maintained by the City of Edinburg
• City-owned Fixed Base Operator
• U.S. Customs available, “User-fee”
• Accommodates business executive aircraft as large as Gulfstream IV

• • Competitive full service and self service Jet-A and avgas 100LL prices

Other projects

Garza said he and his team are also working on some other projects, not related to the airport.

“We’ve got about 40 acres still available at North Industrial Park. But that’s not a whole lot of land when you really think about it, because one or two deals and that’ll cover those 40 acres. Actually, we’ve got some deals right now that would probably take up all that land,” Garza said.

“So, our next project is to work with landowners and identify some properties that might be suitable for future industrial development, aside from the airport. The airport is one of them, but working on some other industrial parks would probably be a good thing for us.”

Editor’s Note: The above news story is the first in a three-part series based on an interview Ron Whitlock Reports secured recently with Edinburg EDC Executive Director Raudel Garza. Part Two will be posted later this week.

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