McAllen has no immediate plans for disc golf course

2 weeks ago 51

McALLEN — So it seems that the community rallying together to protect its beloved McAllen Disc Golf Course on Ware Road, aka Green Jay Park, paid off for now.

Commercial development that was previously proposed at the Ware Road amenity spawned much protest from community members at the time, in 2023, who sought to keep the space green.

According to McAllen Mayor Javier Villalobos, however, the city doesn’t have plans for the park at the moment after recently confirming that said development is no longer in play for the property.

Villalobos said that tech company Zoho, who was previously considering building a campus on the 90-acre property, is now looking elsewhere.

“They’re a very good company and wanted to make sure everyone is happy,” said Villalobos.

Although there’s no concrete reason Zoho is not moving forward with developing the disc golf course, representatives at the time did express concern with the community opposition to rezoning the park.

Now, Zoho is eyeing property in North Edinburg to build its campus, Hidalgo County officials have previously said.

According to Villalobos, right now the park will stay as is until the city decides what to do with it. In the meantime, Zoho is looking for a different area to build.

“Whether they locate in McAllen, Edinburg or Mission, it’s fine. We just want them to locate here,” said Villalobos.

Villalobos says one of the reasons Zoho is looking to establish a campus in the Rio Grande Valley is because a great number of their workforce already resides here.

“When you attract a company, usually others will follow, so that’s really important for us,” said Villalobos. “We know we have the educated workforce.”

A LITTLE MORE ON ZOHO

Zoho actually stands for “small office home office.”

It is an Indian technology corporation specializing in computer software and internet-based business tools. Their primary product is customer relationship management (CRM). According to Zoho, their CRM is utilized by businesses globally in 180 countries.

Zoho CRM has won several awards including “The Best CRM Enterprise Suite,” “The Best Sales Force Automation” and “The Best Small and Midmarket CRM Suite” at the 2024 CRM Industry Awards.

Its founder and CEO, Sridhar Vembu, has a net worth of $5.85 billion.

Zoho has an expected valuation of more than $1 billion and an estimated 18,019 employees. They have seven locations with global headquarters in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and corporate headquarters outside of Austin in Del Valle, Texas.

WHY NOT GREEN JAY PARK?

When Zoho initially expressed interest in building at the McAllen Disc Golf Course, and the city began to consider rezoning the area in 2023, many residents — primarily birders and disc golf players — rallied against the park’s development.

As previously reported by The Monitor, only 7.9% of the city is green spaces and parks.

Residents weren’t against the idea of Zoho coming to McAllen, but they did not want to sacrifice any of that limited green space.

“You could actually put this development anywhere else,” McAllen resident Gloria Galindo, whose family often birds in the area, said at a heated town hall meeting back in 2023.

After the pushback, city leaders listened to the concerns of their citizens, and halted their plans for the commercial development.

Currently, according to City Manager Isaac Tawil, the northern part of the park is zoned as commercial, whereas the southern part is industrial. The park remains open to the public, free for disc golf players, birders, and anyone who wishes to enjoy the natural area.

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