The Edinburg City Council approved a new interlocal agreement for a $7.1 million workforce resources center project pitched by the Edinburg Economic Development Corporation on Monday.
The new 12,000 square foot multi-purpose center is planned to be built inside the Ebony Hills Golf Course near West Freddy Gonzalez Drive and U.S. Business 281 across from the city library.
The existing golf course clubhouse and cart barn will be demolished. Then a new building will have the golf clubhouse and simulated indoor golf bays inside on the first floor, and the second floor is expected to be meeting space for a new workforce resources center. A previous interlocal agreement considered office space for the EDC in the new building, but it signed a lease at 617 W University Drive instead.
The project is funded in part by Edinburg EDC bond money, stemming from its 2019 bond plan, of which $1.8 million was earmarked for the center. Another $2 million from the EDC’s budget will be allocated to the project.
The goal of the workforce center is to connect residents with career opportunities through job training and recruitment, including new meeting rooms to host job fairs and offer space for South Texas College and Hidalgo County Workforce Solutions to work with job seekers.
“Right now the city offers some soft skill training at the library. So this is going to be another option. If there’s other training providers who are out there who might be able to take advantage of that space, then we’ll look at that as well,” said Raudel Garza, executive director of the Edinburg EDC. “We’re going to have a nice lobby area, some classroom space, a computer lab and be able to provide that space so that these different learning institutions can help us not only develop the workforce, but upskill many of the existing workers and even have some room for from time to time smaller job fairs for some of the companies that are looking for employees.”
The EDC considered renovating other properties downtown, but opted for the mixed-use building, which will be next door to the Zoho Corporation campus, which is retrofitting the Echo Hotel for its offices.
Construction is expected to begin in August 2026 and be completed by July 2027.
On the first floor of the Ebony Hills Golf Course clubhouse and workforce resource center slated to open in July 2027. Courtesy | Edinburg EDC
