Changes to Downtown El Paso part of city revitalization
If you’re planning on heading downtown this weekend for the celebration of lights, you may notice that quite a few things have changed. New buildings and places to eat line the streets, and historical structures are getting renovated. One example is The Plaza Hotel. It’s called the revitalization of Downtown and many people are working together to make it all happen.
Rudy Vasquez, The Marketing and Communications Manager for the Downtown District told ABC 7 that the change in El Paso is part of a collaboration of public and private investment, “As far as the landscape of downtown there are so many players. There is the City of El Paso, there is private investment and there is everything in between.”
The City of El Paso is investing hundreds of millions. Paola Gallegos, The City’s Economic Development specialist said: “We’ve worked on 21 projects in the last five years which has totaled about $307 million in investment.” Some of those investments are very visible in downtown. Gallegos told ABC 7 “I think what everybody is talking about right now is the launch of the $97 million El Paso Streetcar that just launched last week.” On Stant Street, in just a short period of time businesses have been popping up everywhere like a boutique hotel that’s still under construction and a vegan Mexican restaurant on the corner. Private investment is also playing a huge role in the changing landscape. Paul Foster, President of Franklin Mountain Management has been a key player in investing in Downtown El Paso. He brought Southwest University Ballpark to the city, and also renovated The Plaza Theatre among many other projects. Foster told ABC 7 “The most recent thing and the most visible is the renovation of the Plaza Hotel.” Next to the Plaza Hotel Foster is building a multi-level parking garage he said, “Not only for the hotel but to facilitate other businesses in the area…so it’s going to be a pretty significant parking garage.” Although all you’ll notice now is a construction site, coming soon, The West Star Tower.” Gallegos said, “Its the first high-rise we’ve seen in 30 years in downtown El Paso, so it will be changing our city line in downtown.”
