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Bexar County Commissioners on Tuesday unanimously approved a $15 million tax break for San Antonio-based H-E-B in connection with a $636 million expansion of its Super Regional Center at Foster Road and Houston Street on the East Side.
Commissioners, including Commissioner Tommy Calvert of Precinct 4 where the facility is located, said the $15 million pales in comparison to the grocery giant's creation of good paying jobs and tens-of-millions of dollars in generous community donations.
County Judge Peter Sakai also pointed out how H-E-B comes to the aid of Texans in disasters, such as the deadly flooding events in Kerrville and Houston.
The center is already a sprawling one-million square feet. That's about the size of 17 football fields.
Ben Scott, an H-E-B vice president, described for commissioners the expansion plans and the 700 news jobs it will create.
"A new bakery plant, a refrigerator warehouse, and a returned-goods center would be the first three phases of this project," he said.
The center already employs 1,400 workers. And further expansion is planned at the location that could mean yet another 1,200 jobs by 2038.
The manufacturing and distribution center would create 720 new jobs and retain another 1,389 jobs. Those jobs would pay an average annual wage of nearly $53,000, or a base hourly wage of $18.13.
The hourly wage starts below the county's own guidelines for such tax abatements to be considered, but would reach $24 in year ten.
Conservative Republican County Commissioner Grant Moody, an outspoken budget and taxes watchdog in commissioners court, overlooked that guideline to vote yes.
"It definitely deserves the exception. I'm not even sure there's a need for these guidelines," he told his fellow commissioners. "We can make independent decisions based on the proposals that are presented to us. But I fully support this."
“I’m proud the county is partnering to keep the state’s largest employer growing jobs for San Antonio," Calvert said before the meeting.
The expansion comes as H-E-B continues investing in manufacturing and distribution capacity to keep pace with rapid population growth across Texas and increasing demand at stores statewide. H-E-B employs more than 175,000 people across Texas and Mexico.
The county's economic development depart recommended commissioners approve the 10-year, 85% tax break on real and personal property investments by H-E-B valued at more than $15 million to help support the project. County officials say the incentive package would help secure long-term job growth and industrial investment in East Bexar County.
The tax incentives approved for H-E-B were also above the county’s standard tax abatement guidelines, which generally cap abatements at 40% but allow exceptions for major economic development projects.
The Foster Road campus has been a key part of H-E-B’s manufacturing and distribution strategy since the company acquired the site in 2017 with the help of local incentives.
