Big boxes · Texas

Casa Padre

Imported, unreviewedReinhabitedOperatingBrownsville, TX

Retrofit complete; civic/healthcare uses operating; no new build opportunity; peer projects confirm strategy in Brownsville region. · summary, model-written

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Site profile2 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Strategy

Reinhabited

This site: record · all sites with this

New use

Civic and government

This site: …new_use field record · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	OperatingWikipedia no source
Strategy	ReinhabitedWikipedia no source
New uses	civic, healthcare, otherWikipedia no source

Site context

Housing permits, Cameron County (TX), 2024	511 units in 5+ unit buildings, 168 in 2–4, 1,668 single-family; 2023: 99 in 5+Census BPS
Other atlas sites nearby	1 within 10 km, 1 within 25 km: Amigoland Mall (1.2 km)computed
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	17,802 jobs in 1,030 establishments; average annual pay $34,141; employment location quotient 1.16; employment +1.5% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	3,517 jobs; 327 in retail trade, 148 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 48061014001)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 38th income percentile as adults; 0.7% incarcerated at the 2010 count (691 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	not a low-access tract at 1 mile; 2% of residents more than 1 mile from a supermarket; poverty rate 54.9%; median family income $24,638; 396 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	Brownsville Independent School District (PK-12); 5 public schools within 1 mile: PUTEGNAT EL; SHARP EL; ADULT ED; BROWNSVILLE LEARNING ACADEMYNCES EDGE
Elevation	34 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	187 county-logged events: 72 thunderstorm wind, 36 flash flood, 33 flood, 30 hail; $221,427,400 property damage reported; 1 direct deaths; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 78520, 2026-09	median list price $264,000 (-3.9% on the year); 159 active listings; median 82 days on market; 12% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	1,037 establishments (-8%); 17,820 jobs (+4%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $204,554 (+1% 1 yr, +24% 5 yr); typical rent $1,509/mo (+5% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	5,815 vehicles a day (minor arterial, 2 lanes); 132 trucks; 16 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Casa Padre (Brownsville, TX) operates as a retrofit of a former Walmart site, now serving civic/healthcare/other uses. The retrofit is already built, per record. It is 1.2km from Amigoland Mall (built). Housing market shows modest growth (ZHVI +24.1% 5y). Peer analysis lists 5 similar 'reinhabit' projects in Texas, all within 25km. Construction permits in Cameron County show $461M in 2024 projects. Traffic: minor arterial (2 lanes, 5,815 ADT). No new construction opportunity identified (opp_score: 0.0; reason: 'retrofit already built'). Unknown: specific civic/healthcare uses, parcel details, exact address, or traffic congestion metrics.

Why. Record states retrofit is complete, peers are nearby, housing market stable, but no new development potential exists per the database's assessment.

Where it stands. Operational retrofit with no new construction needed; peer projects confirm strategy viability in region.

For a planner

1.2km from Amigoland Mall (built)
Housing market growth supports mixed-use
Traffic class: minor arterial (low congestion risk)

For a developer

No new build opportunity (retrofit complete)
Peer projects confirm 'reinhabit' strategy works in TX
Housing market stability supports long-term viability

What we do not know yet

Specific new uses (civic/healthcare) not defined
No parcel boundaries or site size provided
No data on tenant mix or occupancy rates

Generated by qwen3-30b-a3b-64k:latest on Dell 5820 RTX 3090 (Ollama, qwen3-30b-a3b) from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Amigoland Mall, Brownsville, TX · Malls · same strategy: reinhabit; also in TX; 1 km away
Power Center, Houston, TX · Big boxes · same strategy: reinhabit; also in TX
Palm Center, Houston, TX · Malls · same strategy: reinhabit; also in TX
Tandy Center Mall, Fort Worth, TX · Malls · same strategy: reinhabit; also in TX

Elsewhere on the web

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Multifamily screen

retrofit already built

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

County	Cameron County
Census division	7 · West South Central
Notes	Draft from abcnews.com, model-extracted, unreviewed: A former Walmart in Brownsville, Texas was converted into a shelter housing nearly 1,500 undocumented children.

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, year opened, original developer, what is there now, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Sources

A look inside the Walmart turned immigration detention center for ...
1 quoted sentence
Casa Padre

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Casa Padre, Brownsville, TX." Record n-8427ccf8a3, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/big-box/tx/brownsville-casa-padre/ (accessed 2026-10-21).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_brownsvillecasapadre,
  title = {Casa Padre, Brownsville, TX},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/big-box/tx/brownsville-casa-padre/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record n-8427ccf8a3, release 2026-10-21, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-21}
}

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