Inside Buji: A luxury McAllen retreat built for musicians — and growing Valleywide

About a year ago, local builder Ronnie Cavazos began construction on a luxury short-term rental property in McAllen. Now he’s booking guests for the 17-bed Japandi-style oasis named Buji near the McAllen Convention Center. 

Japandi refers to interior design and architecture that blends Japanese and Scandinavian techniques. For example, most of the trees on the property were not torn down during construction; instead, the resort was curved around them. 

Cavazos is the CEO of Structure, a home design and construction business, and Kozo, his Japandi-style division. He’s been in construction all his life. His father was a carpenter and house framer in the Rio Grande Valley. 

The word buji means safety in Japanese Zen culture, and the phrase go-buji de is used to wish someone safe travels. The name also works as a double entendre: in English, buji sounds like “bougie,” suggesting something refined or upscale.

“We want to expose people to different philosophies of living,” Cavazos said. 

He was inspired to build the rental property after hearing through the grapevine that international musical artists who visited the Rio Grande Valley didn’t often stay overnight after gigs. So the original idea was to create a space for musicians to rest, and if inspiration struck, to record their work at the resort’s professional recording studio. 

“We’re trying to create a multisensory experience,” Cavazos said about the resort’s atmosphere, which includes an environmental sound system, automatic lights that are tuned to the sun’s movements, fragrant plants for landscaping, signature scents indoors, and even humidity sensors in the showers. 

“There’s no need to touch a switch,” Cavazos said. “The space was designed to be felt.” 

Buji, which sits along 29th Street and Erie Avenue, cost about $3.5 million to build. It features seven townhomes, a mix of two-and three-bedroom units that share a 90-foot-long pool and cabanas. 

Cavazos has already been booking the entire property for musical artists and their entourage, but it’s also open to the public. He’s booked weddings and parties since completing construction in late 2025, and each townhome is also available for rent separately. 

There’s a Buji Edinburg resort under construction near West Freddy Gonzalez Drive and South 4th Avenue.

It will also have seven townhome units and a shared outdoor space, but instead of a music studio, it will have a podcasting studio. It’s on the same property as Shibui Village, a new community of Japandi-style townhomes. 

Cavazos is also scoping out a third location in San Juan for his next Buji venture. 

“The idea is to kind of do these throughout the entire Valley,” he said.