The Rio Grande Guardian interviews Michael Fallek about McAllen South Industrial Park

In an exclusive interview with the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service, land developer Michael Fallek said McAllen South Industrial Park is master planned and divided into ten lots.   “That is the way things are being utilized, sold and marketed,” he said.  “But there are different conversations going on. We have four or five of the lots that are spoken for. We are going to end up building ourselves about 355,000 square feet. And then there are other parcels that we're selling off. It might be land leases or building suites, but it's really to attract business from Central and South America, from Europe or from Asia, whatever the case may be.“Already, we've got an Asian firm that is purchasing property. We've got a Mexican firm that's purchasing property. It is for end users are coming in to create their own space for their own logistics and distribution needs. A great amount of warehousing that will take place.”Asked how long the project has been planned, Fallek said: “We’ve actually been working on this project about five years now. It started pre-COVID, if you can actually believe that. So, we're very excited to be at this stage because once you come to the park and you drive the park, you'll see that everything is pretty much in place.”Asked about the timeframe, Fallek said: “Probably by the end of the first quarter of ’25 there will be new buildings under construction, going vertical. It’ll take a little bit of time to get the park fully built out, but in 2025 we expect to see a lot of activity going vertical here.”It was put to Fallek that if planning for the park predates the Covid pandemic his company was not influence by the current nearshoring phenomenon.“That is true. We did kind of think, though, if you're if you can recall back, there was a lot of conversation about the need to change up some of the supply chain because of the issues that were already going on in Asia and other parts of the world,” Fallek said.“So, no question, you're absolutely correct that we started this project prior to the COVID pandemic, the real supply shortages and what everybody understands as the nearshoring phenomenon. But we could see that the Rio Grande Valley and South Texas and northern Mexico was going to be a real focus for international trade. We wanted to get in on that opportunity.”Fallek said his company also wanted the park to be built in McAllen.“We wanted it happening here in the city of McAllen, in the Rio Grande Valley, because we have so much talent here in McAllen and the RGV. We feel like this has got to be the headquarters for where all the opening of the doors into the United States happens.”So, no question the demand is there, Fallek was asked.“We’re still going through the entire permitting process; the planning process and so actual sales haven't yet happened. But yes, we have four out of the ten parcels committed. We have talks going on for a couple of the others. We are not concerned that this is not going to work out for the city and the region. We're just excited about the new opportunities that we're going to be able to provide to our community.”Fallek added: “This industrial park is going to create hundreds of millions of dollars in economic activity. It's going to create hundreds of jobs for those living here in the region. We’re excited about the opportunities that this is bringing to the community.”  Editor's Note: Go to the Rio Grande Guardian International News Service to read the full story.Go to www.riograndeguardian.com to read the latest border news stories and watch the latest news videos.