BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Saturday evening, H-E-B’s managing director for Houston-area public affairs, Lisa Helfman, confirmed to KBTX that the grocery chain does own the Boonville Road property adjacent to Boonville Center, but does not have a timeline to develop the land. KBTX had previously confirmed the property’s ownership through online records.
“H-E-B has been serving the City of Bryan for more than 20 years and remains deeply committed to the community,” Helfman said in a statement emailed to KBTX. “While we own the Boonville Road property, we do not currently have a timeline for building a store at this location. We look forward to sharing more details as they become available.”
Friday, the City of Bryan publicly disputed earlier comments an H-E-B representative made to KBTX about the long-discussed store on Boonville Road near Allen Academy, setting up a conflict between the city and a local spokesperson for the grocery chain over what, if anything, is planned for the site.
What H-E-B’s representative first told KBTX
H-E-B Area Community Coordinator Diane Besosa told KBTX on Thursday that the company has not broken ground on any new Bryan-College Station location and that the site the community has focused on was never part of H-E-B’s holdings. Historically, Besosa has spoken for H-E-B on new store openings and offerings in the area.
“We own property closer to University. The area everyone was excited about (across from Miramont) was not part of our purchase and was something the mayor of Bryan wanted to happen,” Besosa told KBTX reporter Alex Weister. “It’s unfortunate that narrative was promoted to the community by the city because that didn’t come from us. Either way, no new stores are slated for additional BCS locations at this time.”
Besosa followed up on Friday: “Just to be clear, we weren’t the ones clearing that property either. That was done for other city work (and not by us). So we didn’t pull out after doing that. But should we decide to clear land and build on any of our properties, we would be the ones to announce it to the community.”
She said H-E-B owns more property in Bryan-College Station than it operates stores, and that the company does not intend to build on all of it.
Brazos County Appraisal District records show H-E-B LP owns 13.3 acres immediately adjacent to the land held by Boonville Center LLC, which it purchased in December 2023 when Boonville Center was announced.
The City of Bryan responds
In a statement posted to social media just before 10 p.m. Friday, the city said it had spoken with both the project’s developer and H-E-B within the past day.
“As recently as Friday, July 31, the city has visited with the project developer who states the status of the project remains unchanged. Furthermore, no open issues exist with the City of Bryan,” the statement reads.
“As recently as Friday, July 31, the city has visited with the H-E-B point-of-contact, who states the status of the project remains unchanged. The point-of-contact is aware of the city’s progress on public infrastructure, including traffic signals, and seems pleased with this progress. According to the point-of-contact, H-E-B projects are prioritized by the company and will be initiated based on their schedule.”
The statement adds: “The property in question is owned by HEB.” It closes by telling residents, “Citizens who have heard otherwise are encouraged to contact KBTX and inquire about their source of information.”
The City of Bryan first contacted KBTX about its concerns shortly before 9 p.m. Friday, to say a press release disputing the station’s reporting would be released. KBTX provided the city with the full text of Besosa’s comments and her name and title, and offered to publish any statement or additional perspective the city wanted to provide. Nonetheless, the city released its statement to the public with the line urging citizens to ask KBTX about its source of information.
The city did not name the developer or the H-E-B point of contact in its statement. KBTX requested both on Friday night, and a city representative said they would “ask if [the city] would like to provide those details.” The city had not provided additional context by Saturday evening.
Friday’s statement from the city says the project’s status “remains unchanged” and that H-E-B projects “will be initiated based on their schedule.” It does not say construction is scheduled or offer a timeline.
The Boonville Center project is governed by a Chapter 380 economic development agreement between the City of Bryan and Boonville Center LLC, approved by the Bryan City Council in December 2023. KBTX reviewed the agreement, which covers roughly 35.5 acres on the Boonville Road corridor and calls for a supermarket, retail pads, and at least 250 market-rate apartment units.
The agreement defines the required store as “a large format, upscale H-E-B or better full-line retail grocery store,” language that would permit another upscale grocer to satisfy the deal. Elsewhere, the same document describes the supermarket phase as “a large format, upscale HEB Supermarket.”
Under the agreement, the developer must begin construction of the supermarket phase within five years of the agreement’s effective date and complete it within two years of starting.
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