- McAllen Lowers Tax Rate as Property Values Rise: City Commission’s Strategic Budget Approach
- McAllen Among the Safest Cities in the U.S.: Inside the City’s Public Safety Strategy
- Building the Workforce of the Future: McAllen Partners with UTRGV and Local Businesses
- $60 Million in 33 Days: Cross-Border Shoppers Drive McAllen’s Economy
- Boeye Reservoir: McAllen’s Next Big Mixed-Use Destination
- McAllen Rising: How a Visionary City is Redefining Growth, Innovation, and Leadership in South Texas
- City Manager Isaac “Ike” Tawil Outlines a Bold Vision for McAllen’s Future
- McAllen Invests $300 Million in Water Desalination to Secure Its Future
- McAllen Doubles Down on Recreation: Sports, Nature, and Culture as Economic Engines
- McAllen’s New Development Code Paves the Way for Smart Growth and Urban Renewal
By Roberto Hugo González | Texas Border Business
After this article, subscribers to Texas Border Business will enjoy FREE access to twelve short stories in this special series. Texas Border Business takes you inside the projects, partnerships, and people driving McAllen’s transformation. From the Boeye Reservoir redevelopment to innovations reshaping public safety, mobility, and the environment, each story highlights a different dimension of a city on the rise—ambitious, united, and unmistakably ready for the future.
McAllen is on the move. Fueled by bold leadership, smart planning, and a renewed commitment to innovation, the City of McAllen is reshaping the South Texas landscape—and the way cities think about growth. From major infrastructure investments to groundbreaking urban projects, McAllen isn’t just keeping up with progress; it’s defining it.
At the center of this transformation is a new generation of civic visionaries led by City Manager Isaac J. “Ike” Tawil and the McAllen City Commission. Their approach is simple but powerful: combine fiscal discipline with imagination and turn every challenge into an opportunity. The results speak for themselves.
One of the most ambitious examples is now taking shape at the Boeye Reservoir site, where McAllen is preparing to launch a 70-acre mixed-use development that will blend housing, retail, and hospitality within walking distance of the city’s thriving Convention Center district. The project represents not just an urban makeover but a statement of intent—a sign that McAllen is ready to compete at the highest level of modern city-building.
In a recent Government Affairs Series hosted by the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, Tawil offered a sweeping look at the city’s strategic initiatives, each designed to create long-term value for residents and businesses alike. The list is impressive: a $300 million water desalination project to secure McAllen’s future supply, the modernization of the Unified Development Code, and the long-anticipated launch of full cargo operations at the Anzalduas International Bridge—a move expected to supercharge trade and logistics for the region.
But McAllen’s success isn’t just about infrastructure and economics—it’s about people. Through partnerships with UTRGV, Texas A&M, and local industry, the city is cultivating talent, supporting innovation, and building a workforce ready for tomorrow. At the same time, initiatives like Quinta Mazatlán’s Center for Urban Ecology, investments in sports tourism, and neighborhood revitalization projects demonstrate that progress can coexist beautifully with sustainability and culture.
McAllen’s rise didn’t happen by chance. It’s the product of a leadership team that’s thinking years ahead—lowering tax rates even as property values climb, investing in animal welfare programs, and representing South Texas on the Texas Municipal Retirement System Board. It’s a vision rooted in the belief that growth should serve everyone—and that the best is still to come.
