KRESS Sports Lounge in El Paso, TX

The KRESS Sports Lounge is a $2,000,000 renovation of 5,955 square feet of vacant shell space on the second floor of the Kress building in Downtown El Paso. The project, registered with TDLR in October 2025, involves interior improvements including a kitchen, bar, back-of-house support areas, dining spaces, MEP systems, and finishes. Construction was scheduled to begin in January 2026 and complete in July 2026. TDLR has completed plan review, but the agency has not yet recorded a final inspection, so the current state of the site is not confirmed in the public record.

Project Scope and Cost

The renovation is owned by Mills Plaza Properties V, LP, which also holds a separate TDLR-registered project for the broader Kress Building valued at $12,750,000. This specific sports lounge project is privately funded on private land. The estimated cost of $2,000,000 places the project in the top quarter of renovation filings in El Paso County, where the median estimated cost is $204,000. The project's cost per square foot is $336, which is above the county median of $66. The scheduled build window of 179 days is longer than the county median of 120 days for similar renovation and alteration projects.

The work is classified as a renovation or alteration of existing space rather than new construction. The scope includes full interior fit-out of the second floor, transforming vacant shell into a functional sports lounge environment. The registered accessibility specialist for the project is Julie Ericson Gereda. The project is located at 108 Mills Ave, El Paso, TX 79901, within the Downtown El Paso area of El Paso County.

Local Context and Status

The site is in a densely populated area of Downtown El Paso. Census estimates for ZIP code 79901 indicate a population of about 8,321, with a median household income of $13,984 and 4,571 housing units. The area is predominantly renter-occupied, with a median owner-occupied home value of $93,100. Nearby businesses and landmarks include the Holiday Inn Express El Paso - Downtown, Anson Mills, the El Paso County Clerk’s Office, and the El Paso District Court. The El Paso County unemployment rate was 4.8 percent in July 2026, higher than a year earlier.

While the scheduled completion date of July 2026 has passed, the absence of a final inspection record means the project's current status is unverified in the public TDLR database. The business is not confirmed to be open or operating based on the construction record alone. The project remains under the jurisdiction of TDLR for accessibility compliance, with plan review completed in October 2025. No further status updates are available in the provided facts beyond the initial registration and schedule.