McALLEN — A 35‑acre medical device manufacturing operation could be coming to the Tres Lagos development.
Luring the manufacturer to the development in the far north part of the city would create 3,500 jobs, roughly half the jobs Tres Lagos anticipated, a representative for the project said.
“We definitely underestimated the amount of jobs (if this facility comes),” said David Earl, the San Antonio‑based attorney for Tres Lagos Developer Mike Rhodes.
The medical device manufacturer, which Keith Patridge, McAllen Economic Development Corporation president, has not revealed, has narrowed the decision down to two cities: Louisville, Kentucky, and McAllen.
Patridge said Thursday he doesn’t know for certain if it will come about or when.
But the directors of the Tres Lagos board were excited about the possibility at a meeting on Thursday.
The potential facility would occupy 35 acres of the 90‑acre tech park just north of where the 100‑acre Texas A&M campus will be located in the 2,500‑acre development.
Near the campus, a student housing developer is interested in possibly making a mark.
The developer from Dallas would potentially buy several acres by the Texas A&M campus and would build it in a couple years. There would be about 600 beds in the potential student housing complex.
Another person is looking at building a coffee shop and pizza restaurant by the complex.
Lakes and a creek have also been built at the 2,500‑acre Tres Lagos community.
Tres Lagos also now has a single ZIP code after the area was previously split between one code from Mission and another from Edinburg. The community is now part of McAllen’s 78504 ZIP code.