First business set to open inside City 2 building

After City Hall was demolished in April 2013, the city’s departments were spread out through downtown El Paso.

The new City Hall is now at the former El Paso Times building located at 310 N. Campbell Street.

Next to City Hall is City 2, located in the historic building also known as the John Mulligan building first constructed in 1915. It’s located at 218 N. Campbell St.

City 2 houses the Capital Improvement Projects Department, formally known as the Engineering and Construction Management. The department moved into the building in April 2014, one year after the demolition of City Hall.

During that time, city officials told ABC-7 the first floor of City 2 was renovated for new businesses, restaurants and retail shops, but nearly two years later, the space is still empty.

Assistant director of Economic Development, Jessica Herrera, told ABC-7 the space won’t be empty for much longer because a local coffee shop will soon be the first tenant.

‘Express My Coffee’ is expected to open “hopefully by the first quarter of the year,” said Herrera, but a date is not yet confirmed.

“We are very confident that the tenant will be very successful and look forward to bringing in additional tenants.”

Herrera added the city is in negotiations with another business, but she couldn’t give further details.

When asked why it has taken nearly two years to fill the vacancies, Herrera said there are several factors the city has to take into consideration before leasing the space to any vendor.

“We have to take into account their ability to operate any specific retail outfit. There’s a lot of due diligence that we have to do on our end and a lot of due diligence on their end,” said Herrera.

The Mulligan building was built in 1915 by John Mulligan, an Irish immigrant who ended up in El Paso.

Businessman Paul Foster gave the building to the city for free, but it had to pay for its remodeling.

It cost $11.5 million to renovate and restore the century-old brick faade.