Garza: Every community in South Texas needs more industrial space

EDINBURG, Texas – A decision by CIL Group to purchase 11 acres in the Edinburg North Industrial Park, has reinforced the need for more industrial warehouse space in the Rio Grande Valley’s fastest growing city.

This is the view of Raudel Garza, executive director of Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian, Garza said one possibility is building a new industrial park next to South Texas International Airport, in the north of the city. 

“We have about 32 acres left in that (North) industrial park. We have another closing coming up next week for another 14-acre tract of land, aside from those 32 acres, and then we have some smaller lots. We have four small lots that are two-acre tracts that are almost committed completely as well,” Garza explained.

“And so, after that, we’ve got an 18-acre tract and a 14-acre tract and that’s really it.”

Garza said that in addition to working hard to completely fill the Edinburg North Industrial Park, he and his team are now looking at new parcels of land.

“So, our plans are not only to continue to make sure that these lots get filled up and get built out, but also, we’re looking at doing a master plan for some of the industrial land at the airport. So, at the Edinburg airport, we have well over 600 acres of land available that can be developed into industrial properties. We also have some other sites that we’ve identified that we’re working with, to try to create additional industrial parks.

“So, as our park gets filled up, we’ve got others in the pipeline so that we can continue to make land available for other industrial users to come in and continue to grow here in Edinburg.”

Garza said if he had more industrial space, it would soon be filled.

“If we had more warehousing, we’d have more companies here because we really do need more space. There is no warehousing space left over in most of the city. We’ve got one warehouse that’s a cold storage warehouse available. And that’s really about it in our entire city. The region itself has about a 95 percent occupancy rate. So, everybody in South Texas needs more industrial space.”

CIL – which stands for Commodities Integrated Logistics – has purchased its 11 acres in Edinburg North Industrial Park to build a 200,000 square foot warehouse that will house Valley-grown cotton slated to be exported to Mexico.

Garza said this park was enticing for CIL because it was right next to I-69 East. 

“The North Industrial Park is right off the interstate. It has easy access to our airport, easy access to all the other airports and to the bridges as well. The Pharr International Bridge is directly south of us. Just straight shot down US 281/I-69 C,” Garza said.

“And the park itself is already fully entitled in terms of utility infrastructure. So, all the water, sewer, drainage, everything is there on the properties, it’s to the property line. So, it’s very easy for someone to buy a piece of property and start construction really soon.”

Asked if the huge demand for industrial space is down to nearshoring, or the USMCA trade pact, Garza said: “A lot of it is the fresh produce. We do have some produce companies and some customs brokers who are planning to build some additional space at our North Industrial Park. But a lot of it is also the manufacturing side of things. There’s a lot of manufacturers who are trying to bring their suppliers closer to them. And so that’s the nearshoring effect. So, that is having an impact on us as well.”

Garza added: “We’re going to be closing on another piece of property, probably in the next week or so. That’s a 14-acre tract that’s going to be a larger development as well, a produce-related industry and then we’re working with other produce companies and other agricultural related companies in some future developments that we will let you know about as they get closer.”

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