Cameron County clears Fluidstack for grading and utility work

Cameron County on Sep 10 issued Fluidstack a worksite permit for the $4 billion first phase of its data center project, the county judge said. The permit covers clearing, grading, utilities, streets and ponds on land east of FM 509 and west of FM 106. Buildings will need permits of their own, and none has been filed, so civil contractors are first in line.

Fluidstack says the project will create more than 2,500 construction jobs, but the work open to bid now is grading, utilities, storm drainage and electrical. Framers have nothing to price until Fluidstack applies for a building permit.

Home builders across the county line in Hidalgo County face a softer market. The McAllen metro had 9.1 months of housing supply in May, and the average 30 year mortgage rate rose to 6.76% in the week of Sep 10. A spec house started in the next two months would sell into a buyer’s market. The Hidalgo County jobs with firm start dates are commercial: paving, cold storage and tenant finish outs.

Permits and starts

The two largest projects with start dates in Hidalgo County are refrigerated buildings on the same street. At 5501 Honduras, 7 Palmas plans a $14 million, 58,308 square foot cold storage building starting Sep 28, and Amore Produce follows on Oct 1 with an $8 million, 40,711 square foot building at 5401 Honduras. Both will need refrigeration and loading dock subcontractors lined up before work starts.

A Target paving job starts sooner. The retailer filed on Sep 8 for $898,612 of asphalt milling and overlay, truck court repairs and restriping at 3600 Nolana Ave, with work running from Sep 14 to Oct 9. In San Juan, the 5,000 square foot Ruleta warehouse, filed at $200,000, also starts Sep 14.

Ross Dress for Less filed an $850,000 tenant improvement for its Mission store at 301 E Expressway 83, set to run from Oct 1 to May 1, 2027, which gives millwork and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing trades about seven months. Interior work in an existing building at the McAllen Hidalgo bridge, 1023 S International Blvd, also starts Oct 1 under three filings totaling $1.925 million.

In Pharr, Universal Metal has an $8 million project set to start Oct 1. Local press reported that the second span of the Pharr bridge will open Nov 12, so industrial bids that depend on hauling across it need schedule slack until then. In Donna, earthwork on a $62 million expansion for southbound trucks is still slated for October, depending on timing on the Mexican side.

Hidalgo and Cameron counties

Commercial projects by filed value

Projects set to start between Sep 14 and Oct 1.

Show data

Item	Value ($)
7 Palmas cold storage	$14M
Amore Produce	$8.0M
Bridge interiors	$1.9M
Target Nolana paving	$899K
Ross, Mission	$850K
Ed Carey, Harlingen	$250K
Re Pilates	$205K
Ruleta warehouse	$200K

Hidalgo and Cameron counties

Scheduled start dates

Planned start and finish dates as filed.

verifiedannouncedthis week

Show data

Project	Start	End	Status
Target Nolana paving	Sep 14, 2026	Oct 9, 2026	verified
Ruleta warehouse	Sep 14, 2026	open	verified
Re Pilates	Sep 21, 2026	Dec 20, 2026	verified
7 Palmas cold storage	Sep 28, 2026	open	verified
Amore Produce	Oct 1, 2026	open	verified
Ross, Mission	Oct 1, 2026	May 1, 2027	verified

Housing permits in the McAllen metro fell 7.2% from a year earlier in July, to 506 units, federal data show.

Harlingen issued 38 single family permits in August and 219 so far this year, the only firm housing count in Cameron County. The city has proposed new inspection fees but has yet to adopt them. Harlingen’s $250,000 Ed Carey tenant improvement starts Sep 15, as does a $500,000 warehouse at 2995 N Indiana Ave in Brownsville, where a Sally Beauty project of about $297,000 is set for October.

Materials

Diesel made the week’s biggest move. Gulf Coast retail diesel rose 39.4 cents to $5.754 a gallon in the week ending Sep 7, from $5.360 a week earlier. Haul surcharges should track $5.754 until the next weekly figure, due Sep 15.

Lumber futures rose $10 between Sep 8 and Sep 11 to $578.50 per thousand board feet, 1.36% below a year earlier. Copper fell 3.21% over the same days to $6.47 a pound and was still 41.20% higher than a year ago. Construction producer prices were flat in August and up 10.09% from a year earlier.

On the morning of Sep 11, a big box store had sheathing, block, rebar and drywall on its shelves but no 2x4 studs. A local yard in Edinburg had studs at $3.49, or $3.14 each for 50 or more. The two split on price: the yard sold 20 foot No. 3 rebar for $5.79 against $7.38 at the big box store, which had 8 inch block at $2.37 against the yard’s $3.39.

Retail prices, Sep 11

Prices of common building materials

Stud from a local yard, the other four from a big box store, all priced the morning of Sep 11.

Show data

Item	Value ($)
2x4 stud, local yard	$3.49
OSB 7/16	$13.48
No. 3 rebar, 20 ft	$7.38
8 inch block	$2.37
1/2 inch drywall	$14.98

Manufacturers have announced a round of price changes. USG’s new joint compound prices take effect Sep 14 and National Gypsum’s prices for finishing products on Oct 5, and neither company has said by how much. Light gauge steel suppliers have set changes for Sep 28, Oct 1 and Oct 5. Buyers whose joint compound pails ship after Sep 14 should ask for USG’s new list.

Tariffs are the other open question. A wire service report on Sep 10, citing two unnamed sources, said the planned 2027 copper duty would be canceled, but no decision has been announced. Canadian OSB, plywood and cement have faced a 50% duty since Aug 22, with softwood lumber exempt. Cement for Hidalgo County jobs still comes through Mexico, but we’d hold a contingency of 5% to 8% on concrete heavy jobs anyway.

Labor

On Sep 10, Magistrate Judge Juan F. Alanis recommended that Spencer Construction and Royal Concrete stay idle on the Santa Ana and Alamo Lateral A stretch. Until an order is signed, contractors shouldn’t count on those crews. We found no verified immigration enforcement action at a construction site in Hidalgo or Cameron County this week.

Wages are rising even though official figures show no worker shortage. Average hourly earnings in McAllen rose 8.7% from a year earlier to $22.69 in June, and the entry level wage is $15 an hour. If the Fluidstack sitework draws electricians away, labor bids should assume crews will be available but costly, with framers the last trade to feel it.

Unemployment eased in July to 6.8% in the McAllen metro and 7.0% in Brownsville Harlingen (not seasonally adjusted), against 4.5% for Texas.

Housing market

McAllen remains a buyer’s market, and its gap with Brownsville is widening. The McAllen metro had 9.1 months of supply in May, against 5.8 in Brownsville the same month and 5.4 for Texas in June. By July, McAllen listings were up 9.97% from a year earlier while Brownsville’s were down 4.66%, and McAllen home values were flat.

	McAllen metro	Brownsville metro	Data month
Months of supply	9.1	5.8	May
Days on market	100	72	May
Homes for sale	3,608, up 9.97%	1,700, down 4.66%	July
Typical home value	$191,508, up 0.03%	$207,319, up 1.34%	July

Changes are from a year earlier.

McAllen, Brownsville and Texas

Months of housing supply

McAllen and Brownsville figures are for May. The Texas figure is for June.

Show data

Item	Value (months)
McAllen metro	9.1 months
Brownsville metro	5.8 months
Texas	5.4 months

Borrowing costs edged up again. The average 30 year fixed rate was 6.76% in the week of Sep 10, up from 6.71% a week earlier and 6.69% on Aug 6.

United States

30 year fixed mortgage rate

Weekly national average.

Show data

Period	30 year
Aug 6	6.69%
Sep 3	6.71%
Sep 10	6.76%

Major projects

Fluidstack says its first phase covers more than 1,000 acres and comes with no county incentives. It has named no contractor.

Drainage District 6 already has equipment on the levee north of Santa Rosa for an $11 million project with four crossings of two pumps each. The first two crossings are due within six months, and a $25 million bond pays for part of the work.

Brownsville’s five year capital program totals about $157.8 million through fiscal 2031. The city said Sep 11 that its $75 million Public Safety Complex is due for substantial completion in fall 2028. Contractors bidding it should price haul time on Old Highway 77 and Old Alice into 2027. A $1.9 million downtown job, registered with the state as “signal ramps,” is scheduled to start Jan 1, 2027.

Saronic, picked for a $3.2 billion shipyard, has yet to break ground. Port figures from July put its hiring at 789 in 2027, rising to 10,000 by 2035.

Our view

We’d hold off on spec homes in Hidalgo County this quarter. A house started in October takes 9 to 11 months to build and would reach the market in summer 2027, while McAllen already has 9.1 months of supply and mortgage rates are climbing. The better bids are commercial: the Hidalgo County cold storage and tenant jobs with firm start dates, and Fluidstack’s sitework package for contractors who grade and lay utilities. We’d price hauling at $5.754 diesel until the Sep 15 figure comes out.

We’re confident in the rate and diesel numbers, which come out weekly. The supply figures date from May, and we expect no meaningful drop by mid October. Fluidstack is the bigger unknown. Its promise of more than 2,500 construction jobs remains a company projection until its buildings are permitted. Until then, Cameron County’s pipeline comes down to the drainage district project, Harlingen’s home permits, Brownsville’s downtown job starting in 2027 and its capital program.

Forecast record

Forecast	Due	Status
No unsold spec homes are started in Hidalgo County this quarter	Nov 1	OPEN
McAllen supply shows no meaningful drop from 9.1 months	Oct 15	OPEN
Fluidstack stays limited to sitework, with no building permit	Dec 31	OPEN
Saronic has yet to break ground	Dec 31	OPEN
Gulf Coast diesel holds at $5.754 until the next weekly figure	Sep 15	OPEN
Canadian OSB, plywood and cement stay under the 50% Section 338 duty	In force since Aug 22	HIT

Housing market data: Redfin, Zillow and Freddie Mac.