A group of Chinese investors led by Gao Long signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Lomas Properties from the Texas border city of Laredo to renovate its historic Mercy Hospital building, at the World Free Trade Plaza on Sunday in Houston.

The MOU was signed by Chendo Carranco, owner of Lomas Properties, and Gao Long, a businessman based in Houston.

The agreement came after a market analysis of the city of Laredo and was encouraged by the newly created United-States-Mexico-Canada-Agreement (USMCA), according to Sunny Zhang, president of Z LAB USA, which did the feasibility study.

“This new project will revolutionize the way we view trade on the US-Mexican border by enlarging our North American scope to a truly global outlook,” said Andrew Carranco, project manager at Laredo Lomas Properties.

The renovated building will likely see a mixed-use repurposing for office, retail, commercial and residential space, all with the aim of continuing to facilitate USMCA trade while expanding global trade opportunities.

“As the largest inland port in the country, Laredo is seeing significant growth in international trade — it increased by over 7.13 percent in 2017, and with the current market environment, it is clear that there is great value in a free trade plaza for the city,” said Zhang.

Gao said that the World Free Trade Plaza will not only utilize vacant historic buildings, but more importantly, it will stimulate the development of local and international businesses.

“We see huge business opportunities in Laredo and will transform the World Free Trade Plaza into a modern free industrial city. The plaza aims to integrate the economic chain of US, Canada, Central and South America. We will invite a variety of trading companies to share the platform. We want to make it a legendary landmark of international trade,” Gao said.

The border city, with a population of about 250,000, is one of the busiest ports in the United States. Tens of thousands of trucks pass daily through the city on the 14-lane World Trade International Bridge crossing the Rio Grande between the US and Mexico.

The Mercy Hospital building is Laredo’s largest building and has been in the possession of Lomas Properties for more than a decade.

“We have been waiting for a spectacular project, and this is the one,” said owner Carranco.

Carrano said that the Chinese investors will bring in about $50 million to renovate the facility and the end product will be valued at $140 million. So far it’s the largest Chinese investment into Laredo.

The project is set to begin at the beginning of 2019 and will take 18 to 20 months to complete.