Our great City of Floresville, Texas is a vibrant and growing community and the county seat of Wilson County, Texas. Situated strategically outside of San Antonio and just north of the oil and gas discoveries in the Eagle Ford Shale region, Floresville provides a culturally diverse home for an ever-growing number of residents looking to escape some of the big city bustle for a more intimate community.
Tell us a little about Floresville?
Floresville has a long history of being a great place to visit and a wonderful place to live. The natural beauty of the land, richness of the soil, availability of water, and strategic geographic position, make Floresville a desirable location for both residents and businesses.
Located on the San Antonio River at the crossroads on State Highway 181 and State Highway 97, Floresville is 30 miles south of downtown San Antonio with easy access to the San Antonio International Airport and multiple ports on the Gulf Coast, attracting industry, retail, and housing developments throughout our community.
With a rich history in agribusiness, Floresville is known as the Peanut Capitol of Texas and for decades has hosted the Peanut Festival, which has been attracting tourists to Floresville for many years.
Various parts of films have been shot in Floresville, such as Sugarland Express, Selena, the Great Waldo Pepper, and the Big Brawl, staring Jackie Chan, showing that Floresville is a great tourism location and ideal place for shooting major motion pictures.
Floresville is growing and attracting development. At this current pace, we are expected to double in size in the next five years and are working towards the future needs of our community. With a current population of 8270, up from 7020 three years ago, there are many new housing developments being planned or under construction. An estimated 2000 homes are currently going through the development processes with more anticipated in the upcoming future.
Although rail no longer runs through Floresville, the City is converting the old rail line into the Camino Real Hike and Bike trail, of which about 3 miles of the trail have been completed from the River Bend Golf Course to State Highway 97 with more expected. The developer of River Bend Golf Course is building a multi-phased housing development, which is currently expanding into a new phase of development on the north side of the property and is located on the Hike and Bike trail.
What makes Floresville unique within the San Antonio region?
Floresville has become increasingly service and energy oriented. This shift has been driven in part by proximity to the rapidly growing city of San Antonio, significant oil and gas discoveries in the region of South Texas known as Eagle Ford Shale, and a steady growth of retail businesses (particularly along the US 181 corridor) serving area residents.
Floresville has land available to expand industrial, housing, office, and retail developments. Our infrastructure of transportation corridors, access to the San Antonio International Airport, natural gas transmission lines, crude lines, water, sewer, and significant power availability, supplied by Floresville Electric Light and Power Systems, are primary needs to attract manufacturing and industry to Floresville.
If you could highlight one major statistic or project, what would it be?
The Mission Rail Park, a dual served rail park with Union Pacific and BNSF rail and located on over 1000 acres, is a shared development within both Wilson and Bexar Counties. While not located directly within the city limits of Floresville, this development, when fully occupied, will benefit many communities in both counties.
The Floresville Economic Development Corporation is working directly with CBRE and Frontier Logistic, operators of the industrial/logistics park, as its economic development resource to ensure its success in attracting development to the site.
Apart from the typical forms of incentive benefits that the State, County, and FEDC can provide, this mega site is located within an Opportunity Zone and Severely Distressed New Market Tax Credit area, which would be an additional benefit for those industries that can take advantage and qualify for these resources to offset their financial footprint.
What makes San Antonio a great place for people and jobs?
The Greater San Antonio region is economically diverse and stable. Intentional economic development grew a mix of robust industries that has allowed our area to withstand economic downtowns, while also keeping pace with an evolving and booming economy.
With 46 Universities, Colleges, and Trade Schools, including The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Tier 1 Research University, San Antonio’s abundance of post-secondary education institutions creates an educated workforce in our region that our industries rely on as a source for talented workforce.
From the plains to the rolling hills, to the Riverwalk in San Antonio, to the rural communities like Floresville, this variety and unique characteristics make the San Antonio MSA of eight counties a desirable place to vacation, live, build your business, and just have fun.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Floresville is growing and adapting as a diverse community. With a growth of over 1000 people in three years, since the 2020 census, our City has demonstrated that it has a greater quality of life than other communities in more stressful urban environments, but with all the benefits of an urban community due to our close proximity to San Antonio and other nearby cities.
