From its gracious Spanish Colonial Revival design to its bustling business trade and social activity, the four-story Villa de Cortez symbolizes both commercial progress and cultural achievement. A landmark from the days of steam engines and passenger trains, it has been transformed from a dilapidated, [ninety]-year old relic to reclaim its former grandeur as the crown jewel of downtown Weslaco. The restored Villa de Cortez reopened with a gala New Year’s Eve banquet and dance on December 31, [1999], [almost] exactly seventy years after its inaugural celebration.

Tours are offered to the public to view the remarkable transformation from a seedy, dilapidated building to a showpiece that attracts business to its tenants, as well as tourists seeking a peek into the past.

The Villa de Cortez is now a mixed-use office building whose fresh exterior is enhanced by palm trees, lavish landscaping, and a magnificent fountain. Inside the former hotel’s lobby, a gourmet restaurant serves lunch and dinner on tables beneath spectacular crystal chandeliers and ornate vaulted ceilings. A traditional Mexican restaurant, Old West-style barbershop, and a fine jeweler share the first floor.

Realizing that the existing seventy-five bedrooms could not compete in today’s market, the owners, Larry and Patti Dittburner, transformed the deteriorated nine-by-twelve foot rooms into deluxe office suites on the third and fourth floors. The remodeled the second floor to include an elegant ballroom in Mexican Villa decor, as well as a living room, fireplace room, family room, Rio Bravo Cantina, and a wine cellar. The original ballroom, with its original wood floor, can be viewed through three brick arches from the dining room and chapel. It is decorated with hand-carved pieces from Mexico - the neighbor just five miles to the south. Memories of the building’s many associations with social, economic, and cultural life of the Rio Grande Valley persist on both sides of the border through almost three-quarters of a century.

A comprehensive plan for intense down-town redevelopment required construction of a parking facility, and was possible through public-private cooperation by the Dittburners, the City of Weslaco, and the Weslaco Economic Development Corporation. The result is a multi-story, multi-facet parking garage spanning a public street to connect with the second floor of the Villa de Cortez. This diverse facility has been used for street dances and tailgate parties, with ample parking on the second floor.

~

Johnson, Marjorie. Historic Rio Grande Valley: an Illustrated History. Rio Grande Valley Partnership, 2001.

Watch the

transformation

for yourself!

Villa de Cortez Staff