McALLEN — Last week, a group of investors approached McAllen with an offer: Let us transform Boeye Reservoir — the city-owned, manmade lake on Expressway 83 — into a theme park and retail development with a River Walk-style feel.
McAllen Attractions Inc. outlined plans to build a 31-acre theme park on the property’s eastern side and an “upper-end lifestyle center” on the remaining 38 acres bordering 23rd Street. The project would be funded with $7 million from private investors, a $6.5 million loan and city assistance, according to McAllen Attractions’ formal proposal submitted Aug. 17.
The theme park would become a regional attraction, drawing people from across the Rio Grande Valley, said Gabriel Kamel, the 42-year-old Mexican businessman who organized McAllen Attractions and represents a large group of investors.
“I think the Valley needs this to get the people to come often and stay longer,” Kamel said. He stressed the proposal is just a concept, subject to negotiation.
Kamel’s business partners include Ricardo Cortez II and Jaime Cortez, sons of Mayor Richard Cortez, who has a longstanding business relationship with Kamel. The mayor has signed conflict-of-interest forms and recused himself from city discussions of the reservoir redevelopment project.
It’s not the first proposal to redevelop Boeye Reservoir, located south of Expressway 83 between 23rd Street and Bicentennial Boulevard.
In 2007, Dallas-based developer Henry S. Miller Sustainable Partners proposed turning the reservoir into a trendy development with an urban feel. The much-touted plan fell through, a victim of the recession and resulting credit crunch.
McAllen officially killed the so-called “Central Park” project Jan. 24, terminating a partnership with Henry S. Miller III and requesting an accounting of how he spent $275,000.
The city went back to the drawing board June 5, requesting ...
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Investors propose destination theme park, retail development off Expressway 83 in McAllen | mcallen, park, destination - TheMonitor.com
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