CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The City of Corpus Christi is trying to revitalize the Staples and Leopard Street corridor. Both lead to City Hall.
It's a project Mayor Paulette Guajardo is pushing hard to get done.
"It's going to get done," Guajardo said. "I promise you it's going to get done."
Mayor Guajardo said she's serious about wanting to get more businesses to open up along Staples and Leopard streets. It's a corridor that she believes is vital to continue to try and transform the downtown area.
"We are in to make this a beautified revitalized area and I'm taking complete lead on that because I believe in it and I know it can happen and I know I'm gonna do everything I can to help that partnership move forward," she said.
Former City Councilman David Loeb runs landlord resources, a family owned commercial real estate business. The company has a number of properties along Staples Street. He said he's been able to find companies to lease his buildings because they are up-to-date and modernized.
He believes the city needs to offer incentives for those looking to open up a business along the corridor in one of the many vacant buildings.
"Having a pot of money where they said 'OK, we're gonna go fix that for you because you're making this investment,' think would help a lot of those buildings because it lowers the risk of somebody getting in and discovering something that's a big ticket item but that they didn't budget to have fixed," Leob said.
Now, the city has already paved several sections of the corridor and replaced the sidewalks. But the area still hasn't taken off like many city planners had hoped.
City Councilman Ben Molina believes that if you want to see new business in the area, maybe a special tax could help pay for that.
"If we need to offer some type of incentives, I really am open to the discussion," Molina said.
"I've reached out to the city manager and he has even suggested creating a TIRZ, or, tax increment reinvestment zone for the area."
That would mean that the tax revenue generated in that zone would be reinvested there.
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