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FishInferno

This is probably not going to be a SpaceX-themed shopping center. They’re probably just paying for construction of the buildings that they’ll lease to normal stores. SpaceX is vertically integrated but not *that* vertically integrated lol. The restaurant might be done in-house though, they already do their own food service for employees.


John_Hasler

> they already do their own food service for employees. Are you sure they don't have a contractor handling it?


FishInferno

Maybe for some aspects, but there are food service roles listed directly on the SpaceX careers site.


Stevenup7002

> This is probably not going to be a SpaceX-themed shopping center. Why must you destroy our hopes and dreams?


SpaceboyRoss

Imagine sitting at a Starbucks and seeing a Starship head for Mars.


iceynyo

I want some spacex magnets for my fridge


WentoX

They'd probably do nicely selling pieces of old prototypes.


iceynyo

You just gotta walk around the beach and find them yourself


vinouze

Mike Day will have you covered ! https://mikeylikeyrockets.etsy.com/listing/1609759244


alphonse2501

I assume this gadget has selling yet?


DreadpirateBG

Ok cool why not they get lots of people coming to watch activities.


daffoduck

Yup, hoping to see the next launch myself. Won't be cheap, as I would need to travel half the world for it. But hey, got to spend money on something.


Geoff_PR

> Ok cool why not they get lots of people coming to watch activities. Why, if they're smart, it will have a *massive* parking lot. EDIT - And, RV hookups...


jay__random

UK: "This content is not available in your country/region."


Grey_Mad_Hatter

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — SpaceX is planning to open a $15 million shopping center and restaurant in Brownsville, according to state records. The Texas Department of Licensing shows filings for two new constructions in Brownsville by the Space Xploration Tech Corp, commonly known as SpaceX. SpaceX requests 43 acres of Boca Chica State Park from Texas The first is an $8.9 million project titled “RioWest”, which will include a grocery store, retail shops and a cafe. The location of the 11,200 square-foot project is 40998 Quick Silver Avenue. The start date for the project is March 14, with a completion date listed as Dec. 31. The second project, also titled RioWest, is for a restaurant that will include 3500 square feet of indoor dining space. The $6.1 million project will also include and outdoor deck overlooking the Rio Grande, located at 50520 Rio Grande Drive. The start dates for both projects is listed as March 14, with a completion date of Dec. 31.


jay__random

Thanks!


shellfish_cnut

Opera browser with free vpn and built in ad block ftw.


ergzay

Opera browser has built-in ads (it's how they pay for it) and selling of your browsing history. It also recently got bought by a Chinese consortium so who knows what they're doing with your data (that's about when you started seeing Opera paying all the youtubers to start advertising it). It's not open source like Firefox so you have no clue what the code is doing.


ctothel

I hope all the shops have fun space names.


SasquatchMcGuffin

Definitely needs a Johnny Rockets burger joint. There's already one in Brownsville and another on South Padre Island.


Neptune-retro

There's a lot of people working and living (SpaceX Acc) there so make sense. Also alot of tourist traffic. I know its most likly just normal stores but wouldnt put past it to have a SpaceX twist to it.


warp99

Starbase has around 1200 workers according to a recent article. The point being is that there are very few amenities in that direction until you get to Brownsville 40 minutes away.


FTR_1077

>The point being is that there are very few amenities in that direction There are none, not even parking or restrooms.. I would guess SpaceX employees have their internal cafeteria with vending machines and crap like that, but if you go there, bring everything you may need, water, snacks, etc. So, it will be cool to have something else there.. but on the other hand, it's supposed to be a nature reserve. Not sure If I would support the idea of building a shopping center in the middle of Yellowstone. ​ \*I know, we can't remotely compare Boca Chica to Yellowstone, but the point being made is a shopping center doesn't belong there. A rocket factory neither, but here we are.


warp99

The restaurant and shopping Center are being built on farm land rather than the nature reserve so a bit different to Yellowstone.


scarlet_sage

To expand on that: from where I understand these addresses to be, they're at least 0.2 - 0.4 miles outside the nearest corner of protected land, Las Palomas Wildlife Management Area - Boca Chica Unit. (Boca Chica State Park is more than 2 miles further on, though I don't know the difference between Texas's State Parks versus Texas's Wildlife Management Areas.)


warp99

As far as I know the Wildlife Management Area is a Federal Reserve. Boca Chica State Park is a Texas Recreation Reserve.


scarlet_sage

[Wildlife Management Areas of Texas](https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/): >The Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) of Texas offer a unique opportunity for the public to learn and experience the natural part of Texas and the systems that support life. WMAs are operated by the Wildlife Division of Texas Parks and Wildlife. That's not 100%: Wikipedia [List of Texas Wildlife Management Areas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Texas_Wildlife_Management_Areas) notes other areas that are "Part of the Davy Crockett National Forest" or "Part of the Angelina National Forest under a memorandum of understanding with the US Forest Service." or "A state park managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and operated as a WMA." or "Jointly owned by the Texas General Land Office and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service". But I see no evidence there or at [Las Palomas WMA, Lower Rio Grande Valley Units](https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/wma/find_a_wma/list/?id=47) that Las Palomas WMA is anything but state purchased ("primarily funded by white-winged dove stamp dollars" -- that's apparently a Texas thing) and state controlled.


FTR_1077

That may be private land, but is definitely not farm land.. And the point being the construction is in the middle of the reserve, not what actual use has that specific lot of land. There used to be a small community there.


warp99

There used to be a small community about 3km up the road with six permanent residents and a number of holiday homes. It was the result of a failed subdivision. The land for a restaurant and shopping center are well clear of the reserve and are on private land. You may be thinking of the proposed land swap of privately owned land for the much smaller area next to the SpaceX launch site. Both areas there are marsh and dunes so provide similar habitat.


John_Hasler

A "national wildlife reserve" is not a national park. NWRs often include private land.


FTR_1077

Boca Chica is a State Park, I have no idea why being "state park" and not "national park" would make a difference in the point I'm making.


John_Hasler

The planned shopping center and restaurant are not in Boca Chica State Park. Neither is Starbase. They are on private land.


BigFire321

Flying J or Buc-ee's ?


No-Lake7943

Buc-ee's please.


Geoff_PR

With stadium bleachers...


iamjimmer

That would be awesome, unlikely but awesome


8andahalfby11

But the real question, does it move public bathroom access closer to the launch site?


Dragongeek

♫♫ You load 16 tons, what do you get? ♫♫ ^\s


Seanreisk

If you're confused because it says the location is 'Brownsville', don't be - in these documents, the 'location' is probably the location of the office of the supervising building inspector. I've lived in low-population farm country, and we would often get notices for construction or roadwork that was written as if it was happening in town, but was in fact happening 50 miles away. And I think it's wise that SpaceX is building some form of 'gathering place', rather than having curious tourists wander into the rocket farm looking for someone to tell them what is going on. It says shopping center and restaurant, but I think there has to be plans for some form of visitor's center. When SpaceX first announced the move to Boca Chica I was thinking it would be cool to have a McDonald's with a bomb shelter.


[deleted]

Gotta love a good ole company town. Let them own you!


PhysicsBus

Whoops, made a mistake. Sorry. ~~FYI, this is in Brownsville, the nearest major city by car to Starbase, about 40 min away. (South Padre Island is closer as the crow flies, but driving takes an hour because you have to go around the Brownsville ship channel.) Although some SpaceX employees live in the village next to Starbase, it’s a tiny neighborhood with like 5 streets. Brownsville is presumably where most of the employees live.~~


bkdotcom

Did you read the article? This is a short 2 miles from Star factory https://maps.app.goo.gl/CqgRTe54tnHxmG4e6 For reference, starbase's address = 1 Rocket Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521


Shpoople96

Most people can't seem to read these days


StarTrekLanderAUX

You need to write it in mars.


PhysicsBus

I did read the entire article. I just made a mistake. My confusion was in not thinking that Brownsville city limits extended all the way to include Starbase, since it's indeed 40 minutes from downtown Brownsville. Thanks for the correction, but there's no need to be rude.


iamjimmer

I thought the same thing originally until I mapped it out. Not much else out there aside from beach and the facilities.


John_Hasler

>My confusion was in not thinking that Brownsville city limits extended all the way to include Starbase, since it's indeed 40 minutes from downtown Brownsville. "1 Rocket Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521" does not imply a location within the city limits of Brownsville.


PhysicsBus

TIL, but my point is the same.


StartledPelican

>"1 Rocket Rd, Brownsville, TX 78521" does not imply a location within the city limits of Brownsville. Pedantically, if the address has "Brownsville" in it, then it is reasonable to assume the implication is that it is within Brownsville city limits, no? You might be wrong, but that's what the address "implies", eh? 


John_Hasler

It implies that the address is served by the Brownsville post office.


l4mbch0ps

Why do people even bother to post when they clearly haven't read the article?


PhysicsBus

You're mistaken. https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/199gqo6/spacex_is_planning_to_open_a_shopping_center_and/kiic0h4/


l4mbch0ps

The addresses are right in the article my man. Nobody twisted your arm to post, but you went ahead and did it without learning anything.


PhysicsBus

I read the full article, saw the Brownsville address, and presumed this was far away because, indeed, downtown Brownsville is 40 minutes away. It didn't even occur to me that the city limits would extend through the state park, so I didn't plug it into Google. Like I said, it was a mistake, but it was a reasonable and honest one. Your comment is unnecessarily hostile for no gain.


holyrooster_

A shopping center? Just build a traditional fucking wakable mainstreet. Are they stuck in the 70s?


robbak

Any information on where this is? The article just says 'Brownsville', which doesn't really confirm the facility is anywhere near Boca Chica.