Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González
On May 28, 2025, the Mission Economic Development Corporation (Mission EDC), led by CEO Teclo Garcia, hosted a Commercial and Investment Tour at the Center for Education and Economic Development (CEED). The event showcased four developers whose work is reshaping Mission, Texas. It featured a panel discussion, virtual tour, and market update presentation by Mark Hanna, CCIM, owner of SVN | Hanna Solutions Commercial Real Estate.
Hanna, who also sponsored the event’s breakfast, offered a detailed overview of the Mission commercial real estate market using 10 years of data from CoStar Group Inc. and recent geolocation insights from Placer.ai. “When we look at real estate, we often like to look from one day to the next, right?” Hanna said. “But the best way to look at a market is over time. Historically, is it a safe place, a sound place to invest?”
According to Hanna, the answer to the Mission is yes. Drawing on CoStar analytics, he pointed to a decade-long upward trend in both retail and industrial lease and sale prices. “Look at the trend,” he told the audience. “It’s going up. Are prices going down? No. When we look at CoStar’s five-year forecast, they don’t predict a decline either.”
He stressed that this growth reflects a healthy and maturing market. “If you’re a landlord looking to lease or a business owner looking to purchase, you want to know that over time your value is going to appreciate,” Hanna said. “And based on the last 10 years, it has. That means you’ve made a solid investment.”
Vacancy rates further supported the picture of a strengthening market. “It’s one thing to ask $20 or $30 a square foot annually,” Hanna said. “But are your spaces occupied? In Mission, the retail vacancy rate has decreased for 10 years.” While he acknowledged some fluctuation ahead, he emphasized the city’s sound fundamentals. “We can look at data and make calculated decisions. The city of Mission is a safe and sound place to invest.”
Hanna also highlighted the emerging strength of Mission’s industrial sector, driven in part by infrastructure projects like the Anzalduas International Bridge. “That’s going to be a big asset not only to the region, but specifically to the city of Mission,” he said. He noted that while industrial vacancies had been volatile in the past, they are forecasted to stabilize. “The rest of the United States, the region, Mexico—they’re looking at this area as the next place for industrial growth.”
Geolocation data from Placer.ai added another layer of insight to Hanna’s presentation. Using geo-fencing technology, the platform tracks real-time consumer movement and origin data. “Now with Placer.ai, we’re literally able to see not how many people pass in front of a business, but how many people went inside, what their average dwell time was, and where they came from,” Hanna explained.
According to the data, Mission draws significant non-resident traffic from surrounding cities such as McAllen, Edinburg, and Pharr. “McAllen is the biggest fan of Mission,” Hanna said. “They’re visiting—8.2 percent of visitors are from there. Everyone from the Valley is coming this way.”
Two local ZIP codes, 78574 and 78573, comprised the largest share of visitors to the 78572 area, with 21% and 12% respectively. This supports Mission’s position as a regional hub for retail, services, and economic activity.
Hanna closed his presentation with a call to action for investors and developers. “We have positive growth trends over the last 10 years,” he said. “Placer.ai is telling us that the entire Valley, in some way, shape, or form, is coming to Mission. The future is bright. The question is: how do we build more retail, more housing, more industrial? We’ve got more people searching than there’s available space, which is an amazing problem to have.”
Mission EDC CEO Teclo Garcia echoed the value of the insights provided. “It is what helps inform our decisions here at the EDC,” he said.
Below is the PowerPoint presentation presented by Mark Hanna during his market trends briefing.
See related stories:
