Construction is officially underway on what will become H-E-B’s largest investment into its manufacturing and supply-chain division as well as its largest single-build warehouse, the San Antonio Super Regional Grocery Warehouse.
To commemorate the project, H-E-B hosted a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, which drew several company leaders and city and county officials.
An investment into the retailer’s future, the 1.6 million-square-foot warehouse is part of a multi-phase plan to develop 871 acres on San Antonio’s East Side. Construction is set for completion in late 2019 and the facility is expected to be up and running in 2020. Stretched along Interstate 10 and Foster Road, the development will give the company room to grow and the warehouse will provide additional space for dry goods and other grocery products as well as supply volume relief at its other facilities in San Antonio and San Marcos.
“As San Antonio grows, we’ve been honored to grow with it, expanding our footprint of stores and digital retail offerings to serve more Texans,” said Carson Landsgard, H-E-B senior vice president of supply chain and logistics. “More than anything, the construction of our newest warehouse facility supports H-E-B’s future and ongoing commitment to be the best in-store and digital retailer in Texas.”
For more than 50 years, the distribution center along Rittiman Road in San Antonio has serviced the city and surrounding areas. When it was built in the 1960s, the warehouse measured about 120,000 square feet and housed roughly 3,800 grocery items. The new facility will hold more than 17,000 grocery items, and with 200 loading docks to start, roughly 180 trailers will make outbound deliveries from there each day. Once in operation, the warehouse, which will incorporate solar power solutions and centralized HVAC system, will be the most energy efficient facility in the company’s industrial network.
“We’re pleased with what H-E-B has done, reaching out and helping develop a really strong workforce,” said Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff. “They’ve been pioneers in a number of different things that has made San Antonio a much better place to live.”
Situated in San Antonio’s district 2, the development will be an economic boost for the area. At the start, between 600 and 700 Partners will be assigned to work at the warehouse. Of those Partners, half of the positions will be new to San Antonio. The remaining jobs will come from H-E-B’s existing warehouses.
“I’m pleased with the number of job opportunities coming to district 2 in San Antonio,” said San Antonio District 2 Councilman Cruz Shaw.
Long term, H-E-B plans to develop a master-planned campus at the location, which will include operations such as manufacturing, warehouse and transportation. Currently, there are no plans for other development on the property aside from the warehouse project. The company purchased the undeveloped land, which is directly across from China Grove, in September 2017. The terms of the land deal were not disclosed.
“I’m delighted to welcome H-E-B to our community as our new neighbor,” said Mary Ann Hajek, Mayor of China Grove. “We all agree that H-E-B is known for being a great neighbor.”
As part of the ceremony, H-E-B provided a $20,000 gift to the San Antonio Parks Foundation for improvements at Copernicus Park.
