At its Oct. 15 meeting, San Marcos City Council approved a development incentive agreement for a third H-E-B grocery store in San Marcos.
The new store would be located on the southeast corner of I-35 and McCarty Lane, and span 100,000 square feet.
The new H-E-B will benefit from a Chapter 380 Economic Development agreement, providing incentives in the form of a “[refund] of a percentage of additional property and sales tax generated by the new store over five years,” according to the city council agenda.
This means that the city would subsidize the new store by returning a percent of tax revenue collected from the store to the H-E-B corporation.
The tax rebate program for the new store will start with an 80% rebate on sales and property taxes for the first and second years. In the third year, the rebate will decrease to 60%, followed by 50% in the fourth year. By the fifth year, the rebate will drop to 25%.
Additionally the store would create an estimated 212 full time jobs and 238 part-time jobs. The rough timeline for the third grocery story is winter 2026.
City council unanimously passed the development incentive agreement for the third H-E-B in San Marcos with a 7-0 vote.
City council also approved Vision SMTX, the comprehensive plan for the city of San Marcos.
According to its final draft, the goal of Vision SMTX is to “guide the growth and transformation of the city for the next 20-30 years” as the city grows in population.
The plan lays out the city’s goals in cultural events, economic development, environmental protection, affordable housing and transportation.
The city is focused on boosting its economy by creating more opportunities for graduating students to live and work in San Marcos. Additionally, it aims to foster economic growth by attracting external investments while strengthening support for local businesses, the plan states.
Environmental sustainability is also major part of the plan to “protect, restore and conserve open spaces and natural systems… as growth and development occur.”
The city plans to achieve sustainability through a conservation strategy that upholds existing measures and introduces new initiatives, such as updating green infrastructure policies, standards and guidelines.
Additional conservation efforts will also come in the form of reducing both energy and water use by residents, according to the plan’s environmental section.
“Vision SMTX seeks to create more equity in our city by using an “equity lens” to view, frame, and consider important topics, but also to guide equitable growth,” the final draft stated.
Mayor Jane Hughson praised the plan and the work done to ensure public influence on its development.
“I just wanted to thank everyone– our staff… but mostly the public,” Hughson said. “I think we got a good product at the end.”
City council unanimously approved Vision SMTX in a 7-0 vote.
The San Marcos City Council meets at 6 p.m. every first and third Tuesday of each month. For more information, visit its website.
