WINDCREST, Texas – If some residents in the City of Windcrest have their way, the future for business there will be as bright as its Christmas light displays.
Right now, though, the city is facing some challenges.
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For starters, there is the question of who will move into a huge space near the Interstate 35/Loop 410 access road and Walzem Road.
The former site of the Windsor Park Mall most recently served as headquarters for Rackspace.
The tech company moved out in 2022 after changing its business model to one where employees largely worked from home.
“A facility of 650,000 square feet on the ground floor, very versatile and it’s been incentivized,” Windcrest Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) executive director Mario Hernandez said, noting the benefits of the building. “We think it can be a success because of the versatility of the property.”
Hernandez said his agency and members of city government have been working diligently to fill the void created by Rackspace’s departure.
The company made up a large part of the city’s sales tax base.
Recently, there have been some positive steps toward filling the space again.
“We were fortunate enough to get another owner of the property rather quickly,” WEDC president Jennifer Newman said.
Newman said a company called Industrial Commercial Properties bought it and is in the process of transforming the space.
As signs out front show, the plan is for it to become the new Windcrest International Business Center.
At this time, Newman said the effort to find tenants for it continues.
“We would love to tell you that we know exactly what businesses are going to be enticed to come to that space,” Newman said.
Hernandez said he and others have spoken to several different entities, including “distribution headquarters and operation” as well as manufacturing.
When Rackspace left the area, it also took away a big customer base for some business owners in the area, including Tausha Willis.
She initially opened her Mamma Lou’s Soul Food Kitchen on Walzem Road as a drive-thru restaurant back in 2020.
Once her lunchtime crowd of Rackspace workers disappeared, Willis said she has had to reinvent her business as a dine-in restaurant in another building nearby.
Willis said she is anxiously awaiting new neighbors in the business park.
“We have some good food here, and we’re just trying to serve the community that we’re in,” Willis said. “I mean, any little business that comes over there at this point will help the economy.”
In the meantime, Willis said she is also dealing with another issue in the area. There is an ongoing construction project on Interstate 35 causing customers to take routes away from her restaurant.
“As soon as I pull out on Walzem Road, you can just look at it and see cars back-to-back,” she said. “People are less likely to pull off the road and spend a few minutes (here) and then try to get back in that traffic.”
The I-35 Northeast Expansion project (I-35 NEX), which involves improving the highway by adding flyovers and express lanes, is expected to be completed in 2027.
At this time, there is no date set for the opening of the Windcrest International Business Center.
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