SpaceX quietly secured zoning approval for a new nearly 34-acre heavy industrial site along Boca Chica Highway

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. recently secured approval for a new 33.9-acre heavy industrial development along Boca Chica Highway inside the city of Starbase on the south side, closer to the Rio Grande River, according to records obtained by the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal through a Public Information Act request. 

It’s unclear whether the city of Starbase notified property owners within 200 feet, published any public notice of the zoning decision, or held a public hearing with the applicant identified, because the available documentation does not match. 

A copy of the letter the city claims it submitted to nearby property owners on May 9 notified them of a public hearing on May 28 and was published in the city’s newspaper of record, but it does not appear in the state-required public notice search engine nor any Cameron County newspapers. In fact, there is no record of any public notice for such an application anywhere available online. 

There was a meeting hosted by the city of Starbase on that day, but the SpaceX industrial rezoning was not discussed nor identified on any public records. 

Instead, there was a “public hearing on a request for an unspecified amendment to the official zoning map by changing the district boundary”, according to the city agenda, packet, and meeting minutes. There were no public speakers, but the city did not vote on the mystery zoning change because the public notice had been published less than 30 days before, according to meeting minutes. 

During the June 3 meeting, the mystery mixed-use-to-heavy industrial zoning map amendment was brought up again and removed from the June 17 agenda due to an “administrative oversight.” The zoning map amendment was not defined as owned by SpaceX at that point either. 

Finally, on June 19, the city held a public discussion and action to rezone the land from mixed-use to heavy industrial, for an unnamed applicant. The application does not appear on any public documentation. 

Instead, the City of Starbase rezoning from mixed-use to heavy industrial was mentioned in a recent public meeting agenda documentation – which prompted the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal to file an open records request for the application. 

Mixed-use zoning could include anything from residential to commercial development. But a heavy industrial district is specifically designed for “manufacturing, processing, storage and other intensive industrial operations.” 

“Mayor Bobby Peden noted that based on his knowledge of the area, he was not aware of any residential or incompatible uses in or adjacent to the subject property that would be negatively affected by a Heavy Industrial designation. He confirmed that the property has highway frontage on State Highway 4. Commissioner Jordan Buss offered no further questions or comments,” according to the city’s meeting minutes. 

A copy of the ordinance was never published in any public agendas or notices available online, which was signed into law on June 19. 

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. has owned the land on the south side of Boca Chica Boulevard, or Texas Highway 48, since 2021, Cameron County deeds show. 

The land was purchased from Brownsville-based Guy Huddleston III and his spouse, Teresa Huddleston, for $10 and other considerations, so the true purchase price was not disclosed. 

Since then, the land appreciated in value after an 11,750-square-foot concrete driveway, a 420-square-foot chain-link fence, and a 960-square-foot main area were constructed – and now the land is valued at $95,162 for taxing purposes – up from $9,597 in 2025, records show. 

It’s not clear exactly what SpaceX plans to build on that nearly 34-acre tract. It sits just east of the Ad Astra primary school on the north side of the highway, a new Ad Astra school and field house on the south side, and just west of the Rio West Development, which is a mixed-use retail site with previously disclosed plans for retail, restaurants, apartments, and other walkable neighborhood housing. 

SpaceX already has a launch pad site next to Boca Chica Beach, and it’s building the Gigabay manufacturing site next to the company office building, but there are no obvious plans in federal, state, or local documents, including the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, about what it could build on the new heavy industry site – which is otherwise undeveloped land. 

Officials from SpaceX did not immediately respond to comment for this news story about its plans.