H-E-B holds groundbreaking ceremony for Third Ward location

HOUSTON – A new H-E-B grocery is slated to be built for Houston’s third ward by the end of the year. 

City leaders helped the grocery chain break ground on the 90,000 square-foot project Saturday morning. Scott McClelland, president  of H-E-B Houston, Mayor Sylvester Turner and District D Councilman Dwight Boykins all took part in the groundbreaking ceremony. 

The H-E-B MacGregor Market will be built at State Highway 288 and N. MacGregor Way. The store will take nine months to construct and will replace the neighborhood’s current H-E-B on Old Spanish Trail and Scott Street.

The Old Spanish Trail location will close a day prior to the new store opening, according to H-E-B. 

Boykins says the new store has been five years in the making and will help eradicate the food desert taking place in his neighborhood. He said the neighborhood has had limited access to healthy food.

He said no longer will people living in the neighborhood have to travel to Alabama Street and Buffalo Speedway to go grocery shopping.

McClelland said the new store will be state of the art and will have the first of its prototype. It is expected to be three times the size of the location on Old Spanish Trail and will have curbside pickup. H-E-B also says it will bring 400 jobs to the area.

PHOTOS: Ground breaking for new H-E-B location in Third Ward 

Mayor Turner said the store will be first class and one fit for any neighborhood in the city. He said roughly $13 million in federal money helped made the vision set by former mayors a reality.