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BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS

= A PRIME RETAILDESTINATION

SPACE

SUN

LOCATION

With the coming ofSpaceX, the region will seea new realm of economic

opportunities, including theretail, entertainment and

service industries.

180,000VISIToRS To BRoWNSVIllETo VIEW THE lAuNCHES

15,000 VISIToRS PER lAuNCH

12 lAuNCHES A yEARX

$51 MILLIONAMouNT SPACEX WIllINFuSE ANNuAlly INDIRECT WAGES FoRloCAl RESIDENTS

BRoWNSVIllE, TEXAS A PRIME RETAIl DESTINATIoN

Brownsville’s future is looking brighter thanever as our community is in the midst ofexciting times. A new realm of economic

opportunities abound in our region and they areattributed to three main driving factors: Space,Sun, and Location. When added together, thesethree factors make...

11th

200,000Population in Brownsville

youNGEST CITy INTHE uNITED STATES

DEMoGRAPHICS

29 YEARS

400,000Population in Brownsville MSA

1.2 MILLIONPopulation in BrownsvilleBorderplex

Median Age

This will be the first evercommercial rocket launchsite in the world.

SAFESTMETRO INTEXAS

BRoWNSVIllE MSA:

143,000Number ofhouseholdsin MSA

$34,374HouseholdIncome

MORE THAN 8 MILLIONPeople in 200-mile radius(Texas and Northern Mexico)

MARKET CATCHMENT AREA

1.3 MILLIONTexas shoppers in Rio Grande Valley(Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr counties)

10 MILLIONMexican shoppers from Northern Mexico(Monterrey, Saltillo, Matamoros, Reynosa, Ciudad Victoria, Tampico-Madero)

1

No. 1Market for

quick-service restaurant expansion

9

No. 9Job Growth

on Forbes list of Best Places for Business and Careers

This new Texas launchsite is described byElon Musk as the“commercial Cape

Canaveral”

SPACE

Brownsville Economic Development Council301 Mexico Blvd Suite F-1, Brownsville, Texas, 78520

BROWNSVILLE YOUR PRIME DESTINATION.

29%GRoWTH oF SPENDING By MEXICAN NATIoNAlS IN THE RIo GRANDE VAllEy

26

No. 26NerdWallet’s

Cities on the Riseout of 126 cities in Texas

All-AMERICA CITyBrownsville is one of 10 cities in the U.S. and the only city in Texas thatwas a recipient of the All-America City award for 2014. This award given by the National Civic League recognizes communities for successfully addressing pressing challenges such as housing, government innovation, job development, educational improvement and neighborhood revitalization.

17

No. 17WalletHub’s list of Most Recession-

Recovered Cities in the U.S.

22

No. 22WalletHub’s list of Best Cities to Start

a Business in the U.S.

BROWNSVILLE:

South Padre Island is the second most visited tourist destination in Texas

Brownsville is the closestcity (20 minutes) to South Padre Island

Recognized as one ofthe Best Beaches inthe United States

More than 50% of thecondominiums at SPIare owned by affluent

Mexican familiesMexican vacationers No. 1“wish” from South PadreIsland … a major shoppingvenue

Mexican shoppers account for a significantpercentage of retail salesin the Brownsville MSA

4.4 MILLIONVISIT THE BRoWNSVIllE /SouTH PADRE ISlAND AREA ANNuAlly

$1.1 BILLIONToTAl ANNuAl SPENDINGBy MEXICAN NATIoNAlS INTHE RIo GRANDE VAllEy

LOCATION

A PRIME RETAILDESTINATION

SUN

p.956.541.1183 / 800.552.5352email: alozano@bedc.com

Visit us: www.BEDC.com

BRoWNSVIllE, TEXAS NoRTH RETAIl DISTRICT

Brownsville Economic Development Council301 Mexico Blvd Suite F-1, Brownsville, Texas, 78520

11th

200,000Population in Brownsville

youNGEST CITy INTHE uNITED STATES

DEMoGRAPHICS

29 YEARS

400,000Population in Brownsville MSA

1.2 MILLIONPopulation in BrownsvilleBorderplex

Median Age

143,000Number ofhouseholdsin MSA

$34,374HouseholdIncome

MORE THAN 8 MILLIONPeople in 200-mile radius(Texas and Northern Mexico)

MARKET CATCHMENT AREA

1.3 MILLIONTexas shoppers in Rio Grande Valley(Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy and Starr counties)

Mexican shoppers from Northern Mexico(Monterrey, Saltillo, Matamoros, Reynosa, Ciudad Victoria, Tampico-Madero)

MORE THAN 10 MILLION

Total annual spending by Mexican Nationals in the Rio Grande Valley

$1.1 BILLION

TouRISM

4.4 MILLIONTourists visit Brownsville/South Padre Island area annually

2ND MOSTVisited destination in Texas

15,000Tourists expected to visit Brownsville monthly for SpaceX launches

Visit us: www.BEDC.com

p.956.541.1183 / 800.552.5352email: alozano@bedc.com

Construction on a new Dick’sSporting Goods at Sunrise Mallis already underway and a

planned multi-million-dollar interior mallmakeover is slated to begin next month.Cesar Briseño, Sunrise Mall general man-ager, said the necessary permits have beenissuedandinteriorwork is tentatively sched-uled to begin April 6. The makeover willinclude new paint, flooring and tile, up-graded lighting, improved restrooms withnew amenities, and new planters andbenches throughout the common areas.

Construction on the 50,000-square-foot Dick’s began about a week and a halfago, Briseño said. The sporting goods re-tailer willbelocatedbetween Bealls andSears on the mall’s east side.

The contractor on the interior remodel-ing is EMJ Construction of Chattanooga,Tenn., the cityalsohometoSunrise Mallowner CBL & Associates Properties Inc.The architect is OMNIPLAN out of Dal-las,whereCBLhasa regional office. CBLsaid it “continually reinvests in its portfo-lio of dominant regional malls, enhancingtheir appeal to both retailers and shop-pers.”

Briseño acknowledged that conductinga major renovation while keeping the mallopen will be a challenge but said he’seager for work to start all the same.

Sunrise Mall opened in 1979 and en-compasses more than 740,000 square feet.Its anchor stores includeDillards,JCPen-ney and Sears. The property also features a16-screen Cinemark movie theater andmore than 100 specialty shops, restaurantsand other businesses.

The 75-acre mall complex includesSunrise Commons, which features OldNavy, Pier 1 Imports, Staples and other

national retailers. The last renovation/ ex-pansion of Sunrise Mall took place in1999, Briseño said.

“I think it’s just an exciting project,”he said. “We’re waiting for it to getstarted. I think our customers are going tobe excited to see it go up. What we’relooking for is to update all of our ameni-ties, and I think this is going to be impor-tant for us to do that.”

CBL, one of the nation’s largest malldevelopers, holds interest in or manages152 properties around the country, includ-ing 91 regional malls/open-air centers, in29 states. In Texas, in addition toBrownsville, the company owns propertiesin Beaumont, College Station, Laredo,Pearland and Waco.

The company said it plans a “grandcelebration” for shoppers when work iscomplete on Sunrise Mall.

Briseño said the plan is for both the in-terior remodeling and Dick’s to be fin-ished before the holiday shopping seasonkicks off.

“The target is October to have (the ren-ovation) wrapped up,” he said. “We’relooking at Dick’s being done about thattime as well. It would be great to haveeverything done between Oct. 15 and Nov15.”

A PRIME RETAIl DESTINATIoNBRoWNSVIllE, TEXAS

Building appealRemodeling, expansionto begin at Sunrise Mall

Steve ClarkThe Brownsville Herald

BROWNSVILLE, Texas — TheBrownsville Economic DevelopmentCouncil recently expanded its team,devoting a position for the recruit-ment of companies in the commer-cial and retail sectors as well asheavy industry.

Ana Lozano, the newest memberof the team, is the Director of Busi-ness Recruitment and Retail Devel-opment. She will focus on twoeconomic development fronts.

First is to enhance the supply-chain-logistics of the existing heavyindustry in the Brownsville region aswell as the recruitment of majorheavy manufacturers, such as majorsteel operations and manufacturers.

The other front is in the recruit-ment of companies in the retail sec-tor to add to the city’s bustlingcommercial activity.

The city is experiencing a resur-gence in commercial activity sincethe economic downturn, much ofwhich is private investment from na-tional and international firms.

Last year’s announcement of arocket launch site and commandcenter by SpaceX has brought muchattention to the area, especiallyamong retail developers. The pro-posed space site will attract about15,000 visitors per planned rocketlaunch.

Proactive business activity hasrecently earned Brownsville suchranking as the No. 1 Fastest Grow-ing MSA for Potential Student Popu-lation, No. 22 Best Cities to Start aBusiness, No. 9 in Job Growth forBusiness and Careers, No. 17 onMost Recession-Recovered Citiesand No. 26 Cities on the Rise inTexas, according to such magazinesas Site Selection, WalletHub, Nerd-Wallet and Forbes.

Brownsville expands its businessrecruitment team

A PRIME RETAIl DESTINATIoNBRoWNSVIllE, TEXAS

Pro business

Looking for a place to start a business? Well, look no further because

Brownsville is your place. The city was re-cently named one of “2015 Best Cities toStart a Business” by WalletHub.com.

The consumer finance site rankedBrownsville number 22 out of the top 150largest cities in the United States. It alsoranked Brownsville number 5 in the Low-est Cost of Living category.

Uniquely positioned as a hub for inter-national trade in the global marketplace,Brownsville has often been recognizedamong the best pro-business climates in theUnited States. Forbes Magazine projectsthe area to have the fastest job growththrough 2015 in the U.S. as well as in the

state.Brownsville ranked on top of several

cities in Texas such as Fort Worth, Hous-ton, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin and Plano.

Nationwide, Brownsville beat cities likeSacramento, CA, Orlando, FL, Tucson, AZ,Seattle, WA, Providence, RI, Miami, FL,Chicago, IL, Tampa, FL, among others.

“In order to help aspiring entrepreneurs– from restaurant owners to high-techmovers and shakers – maximize theirchances for long-term prosperity, Wal-letHub analyzed the relative start-up oppor-tunities that exist in the 150 largest cities inthe United States in terms of population.”

According to the site, WalletHub used14 unique metrics to gauge the relative en-trepreneurial opportunities that exist in the150 largest U.S. cities, based on popula-tion. These metrics together encapsulate acity’s overall business friendliness by con-sidering the level of overhead involvedwith opening a business there as well as thelevel of local business competition, thedepth of the talent pool, and the cost of liv-ing.

Brownsville recognizedby WalletHub.com asone of the Best Cities to Start a Business

Staff Report

Brownsville, Texas

A PRIME RETAIl DESTINATIoN