LAREDO, the United States, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A Houston-based investor on Saturday signed a contract with a local enterprise in Laredo, a U.S. border city with Mexico, to mold a free trade center out of a historic building.
The Mercy Hospital Building, soon to become the World Free Trade Plaza of America Inc., is located in the geographical center of Laredo, vacant for almost 20 years on a hill in the historic Laredo Heights neighborhood. It will likely see a mixed-use repurposing for showroom, wholesale, office, hotel, and small warehouse.
Gao Long, the Houston-based businessman with Chinese origin, said that they invest in the city of Laredo because of its huge trade potential. According to Gao, the investment of the project will cost over 50 million U.S. dollars and will take around a year to finish.
Chendo Carranco, the chairman of local real estate company Laredo Lomas Properties, which signed the contract with Gao, said "Laredo will be in the crosshairs of not only North-South trade, but East-West Trade also."
Andrew Carranco, the project manager of Laredo Lomas Properties, said that "this new project will revolutionize the way we view trade on the U.S.-Mexican border by enlarging our North American scope to a truly global outlook."
Laredo Chamber of Commerce President Miguel A. Conchas told Xinhua that the project has a symbolic meaning.
"It's opening new doors because Laredo is a gateway to Mexico. It just opens a wonderful opportunity for China into Mexico and Latin America," he said, adding "I believe that in the future U.S.-China trade relations would go further."
The border city has a population of about 260,000, according to a 2017 report by U.S. Census Bureau. Tens of thousands of trucks pass daily through the city on the World Trade International Bridge crossing the Rio Grande River between the United States and Mexico.
