CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The city of Portland has a population of nearly 23,000 people. To keep up with the growing population there’s more homes being built, commercial projects under development, and a longer lists of things to do for incoming families.
On Tuesday morning, Freddy’s frozen Custard & Steakburgers held a grand opening for the Portland community.
“We have locations all over South Texas. We have one location in Corpus Christi already and we’ve been waiting to come to this community,” Freddy’s owner Nick Depinto said.
The community is happy to have more places like Freddy’s. Another popular chain store, Target is under construction just down the street.
“Things are really happening here in Portland. It’s good for our market because I’m in real estate and I’m happy to see a place like Freddy’s come to Portland,” resident Gary Henicke said.
While at Freddy’s grand opening, resident Chris Lamb told Action 10 News that he’s been living in Portland for the last five years. During that time, his business Majestic Maintenance has done fairly well.
“It’s still good right now. There’s good money here in Portland because everyone works in refineries. There’s old money and new money here,” Lamb said.
According to Assistant City Manager Kathleen Wisenberger, more people are moving to Portland. From 2022 to this year, roughly 1,500 made this city their home.
“As far as why people are moving here and why people are staying here would be because the city of Portland has worked really hard to maintain a tax rate that stays pretty stable and flat,” Wisenberger said.
Wisenberger said the city anticipates the population will continue to climb. That means more plans for additional growth and economic development.
Portland City Council also recently approved the leisure and entertainment district initiative.
“The city purchased an entire city block where that will be developed into an indoor and outdoor space with a beautiful stage and we will redo a lot of the infrastructure on that side of town,” Wisenberger said.
As the city grows, officials are staying ahead by planning.
They just passed Vision 2040, which focuses on quality of life for those who live in the city of Portland.
