New Building Planned For Southside Commercial Corridor
Accountant revives proposal for mixed-use building.
911-915 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. Rendering by BMR Design Group.
A vacant lot on one of the city’s busiest commercial stretches could soon house a new building.
Miguel Garza is reviving a plan to develop a two-story mixed-use building at 911-915 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr.
He intends to relocate his tax and accounting business, MG Multiservicios, to the first floor and lease the upper floor as apartments. It is currently located two buildings to the south.
“It’s going to allow him to expand his [business] and actually have income from the residential units from above,” said Garza’s real estate agent Rosemary Perez to the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee on Tuesday morning.
The upper floor is expected to include one or two apartments. The first floor would include two commercial units.
The proposal is nearly identical to one advanced by the Villareal family, owners of El Rey Properties and the El Rey grocery store chain, in 2022. But it never moved to construction.
Development costs, including purchasing the property from the city for $25,000, are estimated at $400,000 in a Department of City Development report.
Common Council President José G. Pérez, the area alderman, has supported both versions of the proposal.
‘I’m glad they’re teaming up with an ACRE grad, and that we’re really putting the use of these vacant lots and, not only getting them on the tax base but for community use and a community purpose that is that is worthwhile,” said Pérez. The ACRE program, formally the Associates in Commercial Estate program, is designed to train minorities for careers in commercial real estate.
Area business improvement district members Kevin Kuschel and Chris Mambu Rasch also testified Tuesday in support of the sale.
“It is increasing the density, contributing to the thriving commercial corridor that is Cesar Chavez Drive and it’s very much in line with what we want,” said Kuschel.
The city acquired the property via property tax foreclosure in 2018 from Rose Espino. The parcel previously housed a bar that was damaged in a fire. Pérez said it was a nuisance business.
The committee unanimously endorsed the land sale. The full council is to consider the proposal at its May 13 meeting.
Garza owns the 4,070-square-foot building his business currently occupies at 925-927 S. Cesar E. Chavez Dr. After launching the business in 2010, he acquired the property in 2011.
BMR Design Group led the design of the 2022 proposal. A rendering attached to a DCD report is for an identical building.
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