Flower Mound is considering a pair of H-E-Bs within Flower Mound, but the developer of Flower Mound Center is confident the first location will rise on the town’s east side.
Abe Pacetti of Regency Centers provided Flower Mound’s Planning & Zoning Commission with more details about the overall project being proposed at the southwest corner of FM 2499 and Waketon Road during a work session Monday, including grocer H-E-B.
H-E-B was one of five most-requested businesses in the town’s 2025 Retail and Restaurant Survey, and has been for a few years.
Flower Mound Director of Economic Development Ray Watson said the town has been working to land an H-E-B for more than four years. The grocer is expected to generate $800,000 to $1 million in sales tax for the town.
However, neighboring residential communities have major concerns with the project.
According to town documents, H-E-B is expected to be anywhere from 110,000 square feet to 130,000 square feet with four other buildings in the development, dubbed Flower Mound Center.
Residents voiced concerns about noise, overall compatibility and traffic impacts coming from the development, especially with the possibility of Costco building just a mile away and Marcus High School property down the road.
Pacetti said the development is doing what it can to be a good neighbor, and plans to do so throughout the entirety of the process.
“This is something we hope brings the town together,” he said. “There are phenomenal communities to the south and to the west, so we’re keeping them in mind.”
H-E-B did not make a presentation at the work session, but did send a representative to answer any questions.
The representative said the brand’s delivery trucks would drop off loads during the evening, and confirmed they do not use back up noises, so there shouldn’t be any beeping from H-E-B delivery trucks.
According to the developer, the delivery trucks are expected to pull into the development via Waketon Road, drop off loads behind the store, then leave via Waketon Road, so all truck traffic is isolated to one entrance/exit.
In addition to traffic, commissioners discussed drainage and potential runoff, landscaping and some other possible uses in the development.
Some of the approved uses in the zoning proposed by the developer include circus, fair, sewage treatment center and a mortuary.
Pacetti said those uses were never on their radar, and commissioners requested those uses be specifically excluded when the plan comes back.
Commissioner Michelle Jackson also requested the applicant allow anything the town would have to approve with a special use permit to remain only allowed with a special use permit.
A retention pond is expected to be built in the southwest portion of the development with a hike and bike trail throughout. The developer also discussed planting about 450 trees, including some post oaks, around the property.
The development team believes it could give the project a less commercial-industrial feel and more of a neighborhood aesthetic.
In addition, Pacetti and the Regency Centers team is working to get the project LEED-Silver certified, making it a “low-impact development.”
The four other buildings surrounding the anchor H-E-B are expected to be 10,000-square-foot, multi-tenant buildings with uses such as fast-service or sit-down restaurants with patios.
A daycare was discussed to occupy the building with direct access to Rippy Road, but nothing has been confirmed.
Pacetti said the goal is to bring similar business types to Flower Mound, but unique brand names.
Commissioners had some concerns about the retention walls proposed to mask the development, worrying it could turn the road into a concrete tunnel, as well as the overall traffic impacts.
Town staff also said the development would have to meet the town’s SMARTGrowth requirements, which should address some of P&Z and residents’ concerns.
There is plenty of work to do, but Pacetti and team hopes to open Flower Mound’s first H-E-B on the corner of FM 2499 and Waketon Road.
Flower Mound unanimously approved a parking variance for a proposed H-E-B in the Furst Ranch development on the town’s west side, but there is no timeline for that location, yet.
