CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — While a hefty amount of accomplishments were listed off Tuesday in a public meeting focused on the Downtown Management District's 2020-21 report, locals are repeating the idea that its more businesses that will lay the groundwork to a thriving Downtown.
“Thirty years ago when Sunrise Mall remodeled — everybody moved to the mall," said Glen Wilson, a resident at the Sea Gulf Villa Apartments downtown, an assisted-living facility Downtown. "And everybody went out of business, because the rent there was so high."
Wilson and others believe that struggle is continuing.
“We need more businesses," he said. "Of course there is an incentive (by the city) to move businesses here, but they have no reason to come here.”
During that Tuesday meeting, Downtown Corpus Christi Executive Director Alyssa Barrera Mason said Downtown area had experienced a record reduction in vacant storefronts and entirely vacant buildings right before the pandemic.
"We were at the best occupancy that we had been in modern history," Mason said. "So we’ll hopefully get back to that point very soon.”
Wilson said he agrees that the downtown area was on a strong path before the pandemic.
A virtual "State of Downtown" is happening on Thursday at 6 p.m. More info can be found on the event's Facebook page.
See the full report here:
