BROWNSVILLE, Texas (KVEO) —The Elon Musk Foundation donated $1 million towards the revitalization of Brownsville’s historic downtown and new housing opportunities.
Executive Director of the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) Josh Mejia said that downtown improvements programs were already being worked on when Elon Musk took notice.
“In a matter of a couple of days, we’ve developed into what is now a 1 million dollar donation,” said Mejia.
Some BCIC programs were focused on funding retail and dining plans to fill a vision for a bustling downtown.
“We are looking for key revitalization efforts that promote retail that promote both retail and dining that are coming into our downtown district,” said Mejia.
However, as the city of Brownsville revitalizes and becomes more appealing, the problem of housing arises.
The housing market in the area does not have enough supply to keep up with the demand.
“There’s going to be a need for professionals to be able to have a home near downtown,” said Mejia. “We understand that there have been folks who’ve lived here for many generations so we’d also like to support that as well.”
One of the ideas to create more housing opportunities by building “mixed-use spaces,” which would have retail spaces on the first floor and housing opportunities on the second floor.
Mejia explained that though downtown is the focus for revitalization, BCIC is also interested in investing in local small businesses.
In March, Musk gave money to the city of Brownsville. He announced that he would donate $30 million to Cameron County and $10 million would go to the city.
To learn more details on how residents can take advantage of the recently donated money, click here.
