Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
At the beginning of 2021, Bert Ogden Auto Group celebrated a milestone by topping out a state-of-the-art Bert Ogden Electric Cadillac Dealership in Edinburg. It will be the newest, the only, and the first electric Cadillac dealership south of San Antonio.
Visionary businessman Robert “Bob” C. Vackar is already preparing to open by November of this year to show and sell the acclaimed Cadillac LYRIQ all-electric SUV. Bob told Texas Border Business that the new facility to house such a gem sits on a ten-acre tract of land on South 281 I-69 in Edinburg.
Cadillac’s LYRIQ features both single-motor rear-wheel drive and dual-motor all-wheel-drive models that will have a driving range of more than 300 miles. Janet Vackar, spokesperson, and familiar face representing Bert Ogden Auto Group said that the facility is next to the Bert Ogden Infiniti.
Bob and Janet, husband and wife are dedicated to bringing the best deals in automobiles Valley wide. Their dealerships continuously rank at the top for service during the sale and after the sale.
The Rio Grande Valley has always been fertile land for business; at one time, the growth was slow, however it has consistent. During the last five years, the growth pace accelerated, and if you drive around, you witness the construction of hotels and businesses springing up in every corner of South Texas.
Even the Pandemic has not made a dent in the growth of businesses. The international bridges connecting the U.S. with Mexico were ordered closed by the federal government last year, preventing Mexican shoppers from visiting the Valley. Shoppers from Mexico represent forty percent of the sales for the region, yet not even that has stopped the phenomenal growth of the area.
To give our readers an example of how vibrant South Texas is, UT Health RGV announced expanding its healthcare offerings in South Texas with a new Cancer and Surgery Center.
The 100,000-square-foot Cancer and Surgery Center includes the cancer center, which will provide much-needed access to underserved specialties and clinical services in medical, radiation, and surgical oncology, as well as clinical research across those areas. The surgery center includes outpatient surgery and imaging spaces to support continuity of care for patients through the full spectrum of their care journey with oncology advisory services provided by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — a world leader in cancer care and research.
The center is part of the phase 1 development of UTRGV’s McAllen Academic Medical Campus on the newly acquired 38 acres, located on the south side of Pecan Boulevard between Jackson and McColl roads within the 495 Commerce Center development. Construction is expected to begin in Spring 2022, with completion in Spring 2024.
This 45,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose facility will serve as a downtown venue to host local conferences, cultural art exhibits, live performances, classes, and community events.
Another project that creates good business vives is that the Edinburg City Council approved issuing a $23M certificates of obligation bonds dedicated to several significant downtown improvements and revitalization projects, including a future Edinburg Arts, Culture, & Events Center (A.C.E.).This 45,000 sq. ft. multi-purpose facility will serve as a downtown venue to host local conferences, cultural art exhibits, live performances, classes, and community events.
The facility will also serve as City Hall Annex, housing several administrative and department offices. This $14M project intends to expand and renovate Sam Houston Elementary, a site of the 1920s, to feature local artists, host family-friendly cultural events and conventions for residents and attract more visitors to the City by creating a downtown entertainment area devoted to the arts.
The A.C.E. Center will be constructed on a 5-acre downtown block newly dubbed “Promenade Park” along the City’s McIntyre Promenade.
Promenade Park will feature an outdoor Amphitheater, interactive water garden, meandering sculpture garden, and other greenspace amenities. The City is set to break ground on phase one, including the amphitheater and water gardens, in September 2021.
Wait, there is more, adowntown parking facility also coming. The City of Edinburg will construct a $10M three-story parking garage with ground-level, mixed-use retail space to provide shopping and parking spaces for the greater downtown area, including Hidalgo County Courthouse and Promenade Park area along McIntyre Promenade. This project was in partnership with Hidalgo County Commissioners, who conveyed the property to the City of Edinburg to develop this multi-story parking garage.
Aside from those investments, the City of Edinburg announced additional infrastructure improvements for $8M to expand streets, acquire certain rights-of-way and downtown beautification improving sidewalks, lighting, and signage.
In June of this year, plans were announced for Driscoll Children’s Hospital to open and independently operate a freestanding pediatric hospital in the Rio Grande Valley. The name of the hospital will be Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley.
The new eight-level hospital will be located on the campus of DHR Health, making it the only designated, freestanding children’s hospital in the Rio Grande Valley.
In early 2019, Driscoll began discussions with DHR Health to expand pediatric services to the Rio Grande Valley to include inpatient acute care. From there, plans developed in which DHR Health would build a hospital on its campus to be leased to and operated independently by Driscoll Children’s Hospital. Driscoll Children’s Hospital Rio Grande Valley will provide the following pediatric services:
- Pediatric specialists
- Acute inpatient and outpatient surgery
- Emergency services
- Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
- Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
- Rehabilitation: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy
- Imaging
- Laboratory
- Child Life program
Construction is scheduled to begin later this year, with an anticipated opening date in late 2022.
On December 17, 2020, South Texas Health System Edinburg broke ground on a new, five-story patient tower addition in Edinburg, Texas.
The 150,000-square-foot facility will house an emergency department, imaging, a cardiac lab, a clinical lab, an intensive care unit (ICU), inpatient rehabilitation, and a medical/surgical unit.
Once completed in mid-2022, the updated emergency department will contain 15 exam rooms, two trauma rooms, and four triage rooms. The remainder of the patient tower addition, scheduled for completion in early Fall 2022, will consist of 16 suites, 28 inpatient rehabilitation suites, 15 medical/surgical suites, and shell space for future expansion.
The project also includes a 20,000-square-foot renovation within the facility, including updates to the catheterization lab, the pharmacy, and other laboratory spaces.
The potential of the Rio Grande Valley continues to grow by leaps and bounds, with Hidalgo County ranking as the seventh-largest county in Texas.
In 2013, this reporter witnessed the birth of a new university with the fusion of The University of Texas-Pan American (UTPA) and the University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB).
The merger brought new businesses to the region and created the medical school. Extraordinary medical specialists are now part of the fabric of the RGV. The transformation has been phenomenal, the population growth great because it continues to create new businesses and, therefore, more jobs.
The expansion of hospitals such as DHR Health System has brought great benefits to the community’s health. DHR is a conglomerate of healthcare services, and they are directly responsible for many doctors with specialties that only exist in large cities. The medical school is an entity that DHR Health System collaborates with and nurtures every day. This organization has the formula to operate by combining the services they provide with philanthropy.
In 2019, DHR Health Celebrated the Grand Opening of 4 Institutes located in the DHR Health Medical Office Building.
The DHR Health Medical Office Building is home to the DHR Health Imaging Center, Women’s Imaging Center, Transplant Institute, Surgery Institute, Vein Institute, Ear, Nose and Throat Institute, and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Institute.
So, it is easy to say that Bert Ogden Electric Cadillac Dealership is Surrounded by demographic and business explosion
This report is a compilation of articles already published by Texas Border Business.
