Business View Civil and Municipal | January 2021

36 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL JANUARY 2021 SAN BENI TO, TEXAS Senate bill and a House bill, respectively. The Senate bill got merged with others, so we came out with House bill 2199 and House bill 4347.” In July 2020, 13 months after this legislation became law, a development agreement was reached with Western Spherical Developers, LLC out of Friendswood, Texas, to build what will be the Rio Grande Valley Epicenter (RGVE) – a $115-million hotel and convention center project. Its amenities will include a 23,000-square-foot convention center, a five- acre crystal lagoon, a select-service hotel that will support large venue conventions, an interactive education venue, restaurants, retail space, athletic and entertainment-related facilities, green space, and professional office space. According to David C. Miles, Manager of Western Spherical Developers, “The construction, development, and operation of RGV Epicenter will create approximately 319 full-time construction jobs and 758 direct and indirect full-time local jobs during the construction phase, and another 1,013 direct, indirect, and induced full time local jobs during the operation of the hotel and convention center.” “What’s great is that the City of San Benito isn’t having to front any money,” shares De La Rosa. “We’re not having to issue bonds or any other debt. There’s no burden on our taxpayers. This project is completely developer-driven, based on performance metrics. Should they deliver on the goals they’ve claimed, they’ll get the incentives on the backend.” The development site for the RGVE is conveniently located within a 10-minute drive of Valley International Airport, two miles from Harlingen Medical Center, and three miles from Valley Baptist Hospital, all in neighboring Harlingen. “The City of Harlingen has a population of about 80,000,” De La Rosa explains. “Ours is about 25,000. But you can’t tell when you’re leaving one community and entering the other. They’re abutting each other. We have quick and simple access to all of Harlingen’s amenities, including the new University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) School of Medicine. Because of the university’s proximity to the RGVE development, Phase Two of the project is going to involve the construction of housing for young medical professionals. We’re also going to use that platform to try to promote future medical facilities.”