Published in TB Business Magazine
Written by: Alexis Harborth / Photos by: Dustin Ashcraft
Location: Art Museum of South Texas
A key ingredient in the Downtown brManagement District’s recipe for success bris grit. Alyssa Barrera Mason has been brthe executive director of the Downtown Management District since 2018—and as bra certified local who was born and raised brin Corpus Christi, there is no better person brsuited for the job.
“I have such a drive for improving brdowntown,” said Mason, “and passion for our brcommunity.” These sentiments are easily felt bras she speaks about her talented, dedicated brteam and the initiatives they execute.
“We just created a new five-year strategic brplan,” said Mason. “I built it with my team, brand we’re committed to seeing it through. brWe took ownership over every goal, every brstrategy, every objective in the plan.”
The plans include robust placemaking, brwhich refers to designing and creating value brin right-of-ways and public spaces, as well as brstreetscape plans.
“We are doing a streetscape plan for brWater Street. It aims to increase the street brcanopy from 3% to 67%, and provide onsite brstormwater retention to help mitigate brflooding in the downtown area,” said Mason.
A downtown living initiative provides bran incentive for developers in an attempt brto attract more professionals and offices, brMason noting that downtown offers 4 million square feet of office space. There are plans brto cultivate more retail and build a significant brfood ecosystem, which envisions a place brwhere small businesses are incubated, such bras with food halls or pop-ups.
“We want to help local makers and brcreators showcase the unique things brthat they have, which brings value to our brcommunity and helps define our culture,” brsaid Mason.
She and her team come at projects with bra sense of urgency, eager to get tomorrow’s brwork done today.
“Tenacity is a big skill and gift that breveryone on our team has,” said Mason. br“Because we want to make it happen—we brdon’t want to be on the cusp, we want to brdo it. We have ideas that we’re trying to do brnow versus over the next 10 years. By doing brit today, we can move the next 10 years brso much further forward to something we brhaven’t even envisioned yet.”
Much of the drive and passion to serve brher city that Mason pours into her position brcome from the support and inspiration of brher family, which includes her husband and brparents.
“It’s more than fulfilling,” she said. “It’s all brfor the community that we’ve been in for our brentire lives.”
