BROWNSVILLE, Texas — Highlighting a five-year, $300 million Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), City Manager Alan Guard outlined transformative developments spanning municipal public safety, historic preservation, transit expansion, and regional digital connectivity during a presentation to the Brownsville Chamber of Commerce.
The city’s capital strategy relies heavily on leveraging local funds against competitive external grants. Of the $300 million capital plan, $225 million is financed through debt and Certificates of Obligation (COs), while $75 million is secured via federal and state grant matching.
Groundwork has officially commenced on a modern public safety complex located within the Greater Brownsville Economic Development Corporation (GBEDC) Industrial Park. Designed by local firm Megamorphosis with Noble Builders serving as Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR), the facility is slated for completion in the fall of 2028.
Additional high-impact capital projects highlighted by Guard include:
Cultural heritage investments occupy a prominent position in the FY 27 operational plan. The city is preparing to relocate the historic Neale House—recognized as the oldest existing wooden structure in Texas—to Linear Park. The relocation and restoration process will span six to eight months using dedicated CO funds.
Simultaneously, the city is partnering with the Clarissa Francis Foundation and Sandy Stillman on a $1.5 million restoration of the historic San Fernando Building. The city is funding climate control (HVAC), elevator, and fire suppression systems to prepare the facility to house a renowned private art collection.
"You are going to have the most amazing collection of art viewable south of Fort Worth," Guard revealed. "It spans from ancient Egypt to the grand masters of the 1800s—paintings, textiles, and sculptures. The San Fernando Building is going to showcase it."
Guard also noted Brownsville’s dramatic transformation from one of the least connected cities in the nation to the second most connected city in the United States, behind only Las Vegas.
Through a public partnership model previously known as BTX Fiber (now Omni Fiber), the city owns dark fiber rings surrounding the municipality. Revenue generated from leasing dark fiber is capped at $450,000 annually for general revenue, with a recent $24 million state grant expanding fiber rings into neighboring communities including Los Fresnos and Rancho Viejo.
On public transit, B Metro continues to surpass one million passenger rides annually. The city is currently studying the feasibility of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) line connecting residential hubs directly to major industrial employers at the Port of Brownsville and Starbase at SpaceX.
"Why have companies build hundreds of acres of parking space?" Guard said. "We can collaborate with rapid transit to bring workforce back and forth every day, saving land for productive industrial use and launch infrastructure."
Editor's Note: The above news story is the third in a three-part series on the City of Brownsville's Fiscal Year 2027 budget. Click here to read Part One. Click here to read Part Two.
