According to data from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR), construction on a much-anticipated and long-delayed $6.2 million parking structure in Edinburg, Rio Grande Valley, will begin soon.
The garage is anticipated to reduce congestion in Edinburg’s downtown, where the newly constructed Hidalgo County Courthouse opened earlier this year, as well as other public infrastructure features like the city’s Arts, Culture, and Events Center, or ACE Center, which opened last year.
On Thursday, September 11, city leaders registered the parking garage project with the TDLR.
The garage will be built at 201 N. Closner Blvd., Edinburg, TX 78541, on the northwest corner of Closner and West McIntyre Street, right next to the county courthouse, which opened in May after years of delays.
The garage will have three storeys and 260 “standard parking spaces and 7 accessible parking spaces,” according to TDLR data. The footprint of the “pre-cast” concrete garage will be about 103,500 square feet, however all TDLR records are subject to alter without notice.
“It includes a three-level elevator. You have two stairwells on the north and south sides of the parking garage for exiting. Lighting on all levels. “On the third level, you’ll have your light poles,” Joseph Gonzalez, project executive for McAllen-based Broaddus Construction, revealed to the Edinburg City Council during a July meeting.
Meanwhile, as Edinburg begins building on the garage, the county plans to set up temporary “overflow” parking at an unannounced location somewhere in downtown to replace surface-level parking lost during construction.
During the Hidalgo County Commissioners Court meeting on Tuesday, September 16, county commissioners are expected to approve a $251,000 investment for overflow parking.
The garage’s construction is planned to begin later this month and last 12-13 months, with a completion date of November next year, according to Gonzalez.
“As of right now, everything’s pointing in the right direction and the course is doing well,” explained the instructor.
However, the garage that Edinburg will get looks far different from the one that was envisioned in 2021, when the city council, led by Mayor Richard Molina, approved $10 million in loans to pay for it.
That debt issuance was part of a nearly $29 million financing package issued by the city and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation for a variety of public infrastructure initiatives.
The following summer, the city started paying interest on the certificates of obligation. And four years later, not a single shovel has touched the earth. Following a power transfer on the council, current Mayor Ramiro Garza Jr. learned that the garage had been granted without a plan.
“Unfortunately, no feasibility study was conducted to determine how much parking would be required or how long it would take,” Garza stated during the July council meeting.
A feasibility study conducted at his request revealed that the city needed closer to 700 spaces, and that $10 million would not be sufficient in either case. Furthermore, between the feasibility study and the fees paid to the former architect, the project’s budget was reduced by roughly $4 million.
That compelled the city to shift gears. The plan to integrate retail and restaurant areas on the garage’s first floor has been scrapped. Building more than three levels was also out of the question.
“There were some sacrifices to be made.” We’ve got the key components. Some of the other items involved some give-and-take,” Gonzalez explained. “This is kind of where it keeps you in budget and in line.”
