FINALLY, THE CITY OF BROWNSVILLE FINDS A USE FOR CASA DEL NYLON

Homeless Couple living under
front awning at Casa del Nylon

After nearly ten years off the tax rolls, decaying, idle, the Casa del Nylon at 1304 E. Adams Street is finally going to be put to use  as an eBridge Center, a cryptic name for an entity "creating conditions where women or minority-owned small businesses can start new ventures with an access to capital," words District 4 Commissioner Ben Neece links on his Facebook page.

Milo

A decade ago, when we first started writing about the Casa de Nylon transaction, a $2,300,000 purchase from Abraham Galonsky, negotiated by then-Mayor Tony Martinez's law partner, Horacio Barrera,  for what many observers thought to be about triple its actual value.(The purchase relied on an obsolete appraisal.  Typically, appraisals are made by comparing similar properties.)

At the time, local real estate appraiser Pat Ahumada appraised the building at $635,000.  Around the same time the Greyhound Station, with a full city block of parking, sold for $450,000, while the Coca Cola Building, directly behind City Hall and the U.S. Post Office, offered for $600,000, did not sell.

None of this reflects on Commissioner Neece, who was not on the City Commission at the time the purchase was unanimously approved by the commission and Mr. Galonsky can't be faulted for accepting what the city offered for his property.  

Although he never admitted as much, Mayor Tony Martinez ramrodded the purchase through the commission in a misguided effort to placate Dr. Julieta Garcia, then the President of the University of Texas at Brownsville, who was threatening to move the university out of Brownsville.

Over a decade ago, I met Jesus Marroquin, his wife, Roberta Waters and their dog Milo.  They lived under the front awning at Casa del Nylon for at least a decade before Roberta and Milo both passed away.  Nowadays, when I walk or drive by, I see Mr. Marroquin with a new lady friend and a different dog, still sleeping under the awning with all their worldly possessions in a couple shopping carts.  That may soon change.

The Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation has announced a groundbreaking ceremony for the new eBridge Center for Business & Commercialization starting at 10:00 AM Wednesday, June 16.