Featured: The $88.3 million, 190,000 square foot Bert Ogden Arena, owned by the City of Edinburg, a first-class indoor multi-purpose center located at the corner of Interstate Highway 69-Central and Alberta Road in east Edinburg.
Photograph Courtesy BERT OGDEN ARENA
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Featured: When then-Mayor Richard García in February 2015 hosted the groundbreaking for Bert Ogden Arena, he used a state economic development law, known as a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ), to help fund the state-of-the-art indoor entertainment and sports complex. Three-and-a-half years later, a new mayor – Richard Molina – is singing the praises of the city-owned, $88.3 million Bert Ogden Arena, which launched its inaugural festivities, including an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, August 26 and Monday, August 27, 2018, respectively.
Photograph Courtesy BERT OGDEN ARENA
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Featured: An artist’s rendition of the city-owned Bert Ogden Arena, a first-class indoor multi-purpose center being built at the corner of Interstate Highway 69-Central and Alberta Road in east Edinburg, which according to building permits issued by the City of Edinburg, is valued at an estimated $88.3 million. On Tuesday, February 6, 2018, representatives for The Vipers Arena, LLC will present an update on the project before the Edinburg City Council at Edinburg City Hall. The city council session begins at 6 p.m.
Illustration Courtesy of THE VIPERS ARENA LLC
Representatives for The Vipers Arena LLC, which is overseeing all aspects of construction of the $88.3 million, city-owned Bert Ogden Arena, on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, are scheduled to make a major presentation on the progress of the complex before the Edinburg City Council, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. Vipers Arena LLC of McAllen, whose principal agent is Alonzo Cantú of McAllen, is serving as the private investor in the Public-Private Partnership. Vipers Arena LLC is overseeing all aspects of the construction of the facility, with Cantú Construction of McAllen, which is a company owned by Alonzo Cantú, building the Bert Ogden Arena. Vipers Arena LLC will also serve as the major tenant of the Bert Ogden Arena, and will be responsible for the operations, maintenance, scheduling of events, and marketing of the facility, which will feature 8,500 fixed seats, which includes 1,200 club seats, 12 luxury suites, a restaurant/club area, locker rooms, offices for sports team personnel, and marquee signs by the expressway. The Edinburg EDC is the jobs-creation arm of the Edinburg Mayor and Edinburg City Council. The Edinburg EDC Board of Directors is comprised of City Councilmember Gilbert Enríquez as President, Edinburg School Board Trustee Miguel “Mike” Farías as Vice-President, Isael Posadas, P.E., as Secretary/Treasurer, and Julio César Carranza and Noé Sauceda, Ph.D. as Members.
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Featured: Borja Angoitia, goalkeeper for the Rio Grande Valley Football Club Toros professional soccer team, helps defend against the Liga MX side C.F. Monterrey Rayados on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 at the club’s new H-E-B Park for the venue’s inaugural game.
Photograph By DIEGO REYNA
H-E-B Park, a $16.8+ million sports and entertainment outdoor complex that features a 9,700 seat capacity soccer-specific stadium, has scored another major goal for its hometown with news that WalletHub, a national personal finance website, has named Edinburg as 2nd Best Small City for Soccer Fans for 2017, the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation has announced. In addition, WalletHub rated
The state-of-the-art H-E-B Park in Edinburg has many amenities, including a full-service restaurant, executive lounges, a sports bar, and 33 suites. Suites include VIP amenities and a 16-seat capacity. Park grounds include practice fields for 7v7 and 5v5 soccer, various bench areas with picnic-sized tables, a playground, and an amphitheater with a capacity for more than 2,000 individuals. H-E-B Park hosts top-of-the-line professional soccer, musical concerts, high school sporting events, and other forms of entertainment. The stadium, which is modeled after the Houston Dynamo’s BBVA Compass Stadium, is located at the intersection of East Freddy González Drive and South Raúl Longoria Road.
Photo Courtesy RGV FC TOROS
“We are about three months away from opening the $88+ million Bert Ogden Arena, which will be the largest indoor sports and entertainment complex south of San Antonio, and people from all over the Valley, Texas, and the U.S. have a direct, nonstop way to get to Edinburg because we are served by Interstate Highway 69 and the South Texas International Airport at Edinburg. Those assets are just the tip of the iceberg of what makes our community a ‘Destination City’,” said Agustín García, Executive Director of the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation. “But most important, the vision of our elected, business and community leadership, and the amazing people of our community are who make Edinburg the American Success story that it has become.” Even the symbol of the hometown professional soccer team, the Rio Grande Valley Football Club Toros, proudly portrays Edinburg’s and the Rio Grande Valley’s regional strengths, according to the team’s website, which explains, “The Toros’ logo follows the mold of a traditional soccer shield, but offers a twist with the addition of horns to allude to the Toros nickname. The stripes at the bottom of the shield represent the agriculture industry of the Rio Grande Valley, which historically bright trade and commerce to the region. The vertical lines at the top of the graphic represent the sun and Valley heat, while also reflecting an element of the Toros’ Major League Soccer single-affiliate Houston Dynamo’s logo.” H-E-B Park at all its amenities enables Edinburg to be a staple as an entertainment hub in the Rio Grande Valley, and considerably helps it in the city and Edinburg EDC leaderships’ efforts to market the community as a “Destination City”.
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Featured, front row, representing Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg, the Edinburg City Council, and the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, include, from left: City Councilmember Homer Jasso; Juan Luis Mussenden, General Manager, Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg; Peter Higgins, Managing Partner, Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg; Gus García, Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation (immediately behind Peter Higgins); Mayor Richard García, who also serves as President, Board of Directors, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation; and City Councilmember Richard Molina. These leaders were among the several hundred area residents who participated in the Wednesday, July 19, 2017 ribbon-cutting of the five-star, multi-million dollar restaurant, located at the Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley. The restaurant is just off U.S. Expressway 281 in the heart of Edinburg. Bob’s combines a lively atmosphere, fine wines and large cuts of the finest prime steaks, chops and seafood to make Bob’s the best steak house in any town. Known for their prime filets, Bob’s only serves prime beef, hand-selected from the top two percent of all beef, perfectly trimmed and expertly grilled. Bob’s also offers delicious sides and desserts made from scratch, and included with every steak, their famous pickles, choice of potato and signature big glazed carrot. Letty González, President of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce, shared community leaders enthusiasm for Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg. “We are excited to welcome our new member to Edinburg,” said González. “Bob’s is a beautiful and unique dining experience that will be unparalleled in our area. This is just an indication of all the great things going on in Edinburg.”
Photograph By RONNIE LARRALDE
Featured, from left: Gus García, Executive Director, Edinburg Economic Development Corporation, congratulates Peter Higgins, Managing Partner, Bob’s Steak and Chop House in Edinburg, following the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the restaurant, which took place on Wednesday, July 19, 2017. “Edinburg’s restaurants are fantastic, and they serve phenomenal food, great meals, you name it. Now, having an elite restaurant like Bob’s Steak & Chop House changes the image for the entire South Texas region. This is the first nationally-recognized five-star restaurant in Edinburg and deep South Texas,” said García. “Bob’s has a nationally known reputation. By doing well in Edinburg, it will once again prove that our region can support, and deserves, the very best life has to offer.” Higgins heaped praise on deep South Texas. “People have asked me several times recently, ‘Why Edinburg, Texas?’ Well, I’ll tell you why. It is a tremendous growth environment,” Higgins said. “If you look at the city itself with its growth, a new Hidalgo County Courthouse that will be built, several world-class hotels, a nationally-ranked university with a School of Medicine, and the Bert Ogden Arena and H-E-B Park near our site – well, the list goes on and on.”
Featured, from left: Jaime Cazares, District Sales Manager, Ben E. Keith Foods; Debra Stolley; Roger Stolley, NAI Rio Grande Valley (Commercial Real Estate Services Worldwide); Byron Jay Lewis, President and CEO, Edwards Abstract and Title Co., and Peter Higgins, Managing Partner, Bob’s Steak & Chop House in Edinburg, seated inside the Lenox Lounge in the multi-million dollar five-star restaurant, located at 591 East Trenton Road in Edinburg, at the Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley. The Lenox Lounge, part of the approximately 9,000-square-foot facility, is named in honor of William “Bill” W. Lenox, former president of the Bob’s Steak & Chop House national chain of fine dining establishments. Lenox, who died on Friday, January 20, 2016, was the key player in bringing the restaurant to Edinburg. According to his obituary, published in the Dallas Morning News, “Lenox, known for his entrepreneurial success, generous spirit and engaging character, passed away after suffering a heart attack at his home in Vail, Colorado. He was 70.” (http://www.legacy.com/
Photograph By MARCO DAVID SOLIS
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