San Benito selling historic Stonewall Jackson building

Fernando Del Valle, Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, Texas
Updated ·3 min read

Mar. 31—SAN BENITO — After 10 years as part of the San Benito Housing Authority's inventory, the former Stonewall Jackson Hotel is back on the block.

For years, the agency's officials planned to restore one of San Benito's greatest historic landmarks, but the project's price tag's too high.

"It's heart-breaking to see the history of San Benito taking this kind of hit," Mayor Rick Guerra said.

For decades, the old grand hotel has stood decaying into the city's most famous eyesore at 220 E. Stenger St.

"We will do anything to get that building restored," Art Rodriguez, the housing authority's executive director, said.

$10 million renovation

Based on its condition, Rodriguez estimates the building's renovation would cost about $10 million.

"It's just an estimate based on my knowledge of what needs to be done," he said. "That's a big restoration job. The Stonewall Jackson needs a lot of repair and has a lot of need. The wiring is shot. We have to do a good analysis of the value and the value of repairs."

In 2019, the Megamorphosis Design architectural firm estimated the building's restoration would cost $6 million to $7 million, officials said.

Since then, officials have boosted the estimate as a result of the coronavirus pandemic's supply chain crisis' impact on materials' costs and the building's continued deterioration.

Awaiting historical designation

Under the housing authority, officials can't justify funding the renovation, Rodriguez said.

"We have the primary responsibility for affordable housing," he said.

For months, officials have been working with the Texas Historical Commission, requesting the agency designate the building a state historical landmark, a process expected to be completed within a year.

Meanwhile, the building is up for sale.

"We're trying to find investors interested in historical buildings," Rodriguez said. "If we make it historical, we may be able to attract investors who'll work toward its restoration."

After the historical commission grants its designation, officials plan to request the housing authority's board of directors set a sale price, he said.

Study followed purchase

In 2013, the housing authority's previous administration paid $220,000 to buy the building.

Following agency's purchase, the architectural firm Megamorphosis Design conducted its first study to determine the cost of the building's renovation.

At the time, the firm estimated it would cost at least $2 million to renovate the building's first floor while replacing windows throughout the building, officials said.

Meanwhile, the entire building's renovation would cost about $3.4 million.

In 2013, the Cameron County Central Appraisal District appraised the property at $222,998.

Background

Today, the South Texas landmark stands like a boarded-up monument to San Benito's glory days as northern Cameron County's commercial center.

Opened in 1927, the grand hotel marked an era in which land barons courted northern businessmen who helped transform the city into an agricultural mecca.

During the city's heyday, the building stood as the area's social hub.

For decades, area leaders dreamed of taking on one of the region's greatest renovation projects.

During the last decades, the Stonewall Jackson fell deeper into disrepair before the city condemned the low-rent apartment building in 2012, fining its owner $12,500 for building code violation after evicting its last tenants.