Whatever happened to Laredo's Emerald Tower?

It was supposed to tower 16 stories above the Gateway city. The Emerald Tower woud have been Laredo's tallest building.  Three additional levels of subterranean parking brought the proposed total to 19 stories. The year was 2004.  Subsequently, the plans for the green tower would be scrapped, relegated to the same pile as the outlet mall which was suppose to sit at mile mark 18 alongside IH-35.

The September 20th, 2004 of the Laredo Morning Times Business Journal reported:

For years, C.Y. Benavides and his family have helped create a vision of what Laredo could be. After land donations and other real estate tranactions, Benavides hopes to make his mark on the landscape of Laredo.

The skyline of the city will change dramatically after planned $43 million, 16-story high-rise luxury condo,

business center and microcommunity are completed in about two years. “It’s going to be like a beacon,”

Benavides said. “We have Embassy Suites coming in down the street, and Hawthorne Suites and they are

talking about a Holiday Inn next to that. We can keep on going.

We’ve developing this whole corridor, a mid-town development. It’s not a bad thing.” “I can’t tell you how many

people out there who are so supportive of the project,” he said. All the property to what is now Mall del Norte belonged to his family at one time. “The school wouldn’t be there if we hadn’t sold the property to somebody and all those homes through there. It all belonged to my grandfather.”

The complex will be built on a 10.2 acre corner property north of the intersection of Springfield Avenue and Calle Del Norte, according to Benavides.