By Juan Montoya
The stage is set for the decrepit El Jardin Hotel in downtown Brownsville to become provide affordable rental housing to the downtown area.On Tuesday, the city commission will hold a public hearing anf consider taking action to sponsor a request from El Jardin Housing Partners, LP, for its application to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) for 2017 Competitive 9 percent Housing Tax Credits for El Jardin Lofts.
We have always commented that the established exercise in bringing in cyclists from the suburbs once or twice a month to "revitalize" downtown Brownsville was simplistic and ignored the critical organic relationship between a permanent population there and the downtown area. Unless ther eis a stable population that shops there, lives there, and patronizes the downtown businesses, the monthly bicycle excursions are an exercise in futility.
We have heard that Mayor Tony Martinez had opposed the El Jardin Lofts. But we also heard that the investors who bought the old hotel were going through with their plan whether Martinez approved of it or not.
How long can the city afford to put up with the decaying structure? Just recently – because it is empty – vandals are said to have started a fir eon its rood that spread through the top section. It may be a small start to bring people to live downtown, but it's a start. it's better than to see the city's core stagnate and be taken over by transients and crack heads as it was getting to be.
14 comments:
It is contradictory to the mentality of some assholes, those have been blocking the revitalization of Downtown, by holding to the pipedream of converting Downtown into a Texas French quarter, bringing affordable housing to downtown, will bring low income tenants, which can not afford to patronize High End Restaurants & Bars
,it will also rise crime in the area, lowering the regulations to allow affordable to low income tenants business will be necessary too.
I think this is a good idea, regardless of the contradictions expressed by the first comment. I think that any money is good money as long as it helps that part of the city flourish.
I think that this is a good idea. Lots of college kids and young people need affordable housing as much as best families.
Yea, right. I will bet anyone $1,000 this goes away like all the rest.
DJ Moshi, that was the big mistake they made when they bought downtown properties for 4 times their real value, thinking about the college kids, there is no lots of college kids to patronize Downtown business, most TSC students are locals, they live at their parents and go to lunch at home
Sossi is living proof that you have to eat a baby to get fired.
Lots of college students come down there. When BAM was open, we always had a nice crowd of college kids. Granted, things changed when the TSC police cracked down on late night student work (such as in the studio), and most university students, especially in the arts, felt the crunch and could no longer venture out so they could make the most of their time.
It's a shame really. TSC and UTRGV have really undermined the growth of downtown almost by sheer coincidence. I really would like to have another spot downtown one day, but maybe will consider it again after more projects come to fruition.
BAM was closed down because they could not abide by the rules and also attracted a drugged out, criminal element to the down town area. Also promoted under age alcohol consumption. Anybody can rent a non-compliant flop space and call it an "art project". Not much creativity needed.
My thoughts: revitalizing the hotel will be very expensive. It's nothing but a shell. Be careful that tax payers don't end up footing the bill through a futile private public partnership. The hotel is just too far gone. I would not be surprised if it's not completely structurally unsound. Secondly: it will be difficult to revitalise downtown because you essentially have a third world country right across the border. It's those folks of lower economic means that shop there. Where are they going to go? You can't gentrify the whole of Matamoros. Unless you have people that live there, shop there, entertain themselves there, it will be difficult.
Tony changed his mind after the investor changed their local attorney to one of Tony's law partners.
What I wanna know is the mayor or the Brownsville city commissioner makeoney off this project? A concern citizen!
Proof? You're just full of assumptions.
Proof not needed fake DJ. All you had to do is drive by to see your junky friends hanging out in front since you could not afford an air conditioner. Glad they closed you down.
Unless it is extremely controlled, low income housing is not going to do anything but keep people away. But that eyesore needs pretty much any help it can get at this point. BAM was good for downtown!
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