Cameron County has submitted a grant application for $500,000 to the Economic Development Administration (EDA) for restoration of the Liaseca Building located adjacent to the Historic 1912 Cameron County Courthouse in Brownsville, Texas. The plan is to provide an office to house the operations of the Brownsville Development Fund of Texas(BDFT). The BDFT provides access to SBA 504 loans to qualifying applicants. While the County does provide economic incentives to businesses to locate in the county, typically those incentives are tailored to large businesses or manufacturers.
By providing space for the Business Development Fund near the County Courthouse, the County can better coordinate the availability of economic data to assist small businesses in applying for funding to start or grow their business. Restoring the Laiseca Building will preserve a building that was built in 1897 and served as a hardward store for nearly a hundred years. It will also provide about 2,000 square foot office providing space for a small business loan program, a small communities data grant writing resource, and improve the quality of the neighborhood’s appearance. The Pacheco Building Warehouse is also a historic restoration. This warehouse was built prior to 1890 and is in desperate need of renovation. Once this facility is restored it would be ideally suited for open concept meetings such as job fairs. The Pacheco-Field Building is an iconic building with unique archiectural style. The county is interested in acquiring this building to preserve it for future generations.
