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Built in 1927, the high-rise building, The Reese, in downtown Harlingen, has undergone several changes.

 It was originally the Reese Wilmont Hotel and later it served as housing for low-income seniors. However, in 2008, Hurricane Dolly did extensive damage to the building. It has since been unoccupied - but that could soon change.
 
"The investors came-in and decided to just gut the entire envelope of the building and refurbish it into something that would be a gift back to Harlingen," realtor Roddy de la Garza said.
De la Garza said that gift is The Reese - a five-story building, complete with a restaurant and banquet hall.

By the end of the year, 12 loft-condos will be available to live in for a price of $369,000. De la Garza said there’s several target markets.
 
"The ambulatory, active senior citizen who is looking for something low-maintenance - they’re not ready to go into assisted living, but want something that's going to be high-security,” de la Garza said. “Mexican nationals (and) we also have part-time (Rio Grande) Valley residents.

There's a lot of people who live in San Antonio or Houston but their business brings them here on a part-time basis. (Also), combined families - people in their forties who are taking care of their parent in their sixties and are bringing things together."
 
De la Garza said it's not the location investors are relying on to sell the condos, rather, it's the convenience, high technology, high security and easy living
He said it's also realtors' attempt to get downtown Harlingen booming again.
 
"Someone had to take the risk to develop downtown Harlingen and that's what the developers did,” de la Garza said. “They live in this area, they believe in this market - someone had to be the first and really start to revitalize."