A North Texas development expected to add thousands of new houses to the nation’s fourth-largest metropolitan area is beginning with the arrival of sought-after grocer H-E-B.
Work is underway on the 20-acre tract at the northwest corner of Interstate 35W and Robson Ranch Road in Denton, Texas, a city about 45 miles northwest of downtown Dallas, a spokesperson on behalf of Hillwood told CoStar News. Along with the $60 million grocery store, as outlined in a state work permit, the initial phase of what is expected to be a $10 billion mixed-use project known as Landmark includes 747 single-family lots earmarked for nine homebuilders with model houses expected to open next spring.
Landmark is a 3,200-acre master-planned development expected to bring 6,000 single-family homes and 3,000 apartments, as well as 900 acres of retail, hospitality and entertainment space.
H-E-B, a San Antonio-based grocery chain, has built a loyal following in the Lone Star State, opening stores with fanfare and hundreds of shoppers waiting to be among the first to enter. In recent years, the traditional adage that retail follows rooftops, meaning stores are built after houses, has been shaken up: If you have the right brand, rooftops will follow the right retail, one real estate executive said.
“They may not be following rooftops, but they are savvy enough to get ahead of the game, and they’ve done this in Texas for years,” David Zoller, an executive vice president at Dallas-based real estate services firm Weitzman, told CoStar News, referring to H-E-B.
Zoller represented the landlord in H-E-B’s Joe V’s Smart Shop lease at 2407 W. Airport Freeway in Irving, with the store expected to open Friday. H-E-B has a history of nabbing land or sites, blocking other grocers or giving them a place in the future.
“H-E-B is highly sophisticated on where they go, they understand the market and what the roads and traffic patterns can be,” Zoller said. “Just because you can’t see the rooftops now doesn’t mean they won’t be there, and H-E-B likes to identify parcels and buy them on a good basis.”
Fast-growing region
H-E-B spokesperson Mabrie Jackson said Denton is “a rapidly growing area with tremendous established density in surrounding towns,” with this store expected to open in early fall 2027. This is one of two planned H-E-B stores in Denton, with another one at 2210 W. University Drive expected to get underway next summer, according to a state work permit.
Even though Landmark is just beginning, there’s a lot going on in the surrounding area, said Ted Wilson, principal of Dallas-based Residential Strategies, which tracks housing in the Dallas-Fort Worth region.
“It’s far from being out there as a greenfill location,” Wilson told CoStar News, adding that Harvest, Pecan Square and Robson Ranch are all existing residential developments within a drive of the new H-E-B site. For residents, “H-E-B is an amenity of sorts. It has a great reputation,” he said, adding he wishes he had an H-E-B closer to his home.
Landmark is being built on Hunter Ranch, which was acquired by the Perot family in 1987. Along with the residential and commercial plans, the joint venture between Hillwood Communities and Hillwood Properties has 1,100 acres of the development earmarked for parks, trails and habitat — making it among the largest private dedications of its kind in North Texas.
Denton is a city on the outskirts of Dallas-Fort Worth with two major universities: the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University. The Landmark development is anchored by Pilot Knob, Denton’s most recognizable natural landmark. It served as a lookout station for the Native Caddo tribe and a hideout for outlaw Sam Bass, according to the Texas State Historical Association.
Landmark marks Hillwood’s first development in Denton. The first 120 acres of what is expected to be 900 acres of commercially zoned land is being actively leased for retail, dining and entertainment uses. Hillwood is able to build upward of 5 million square feet of retail, hospitality and entertainment on this acreage.
Leading with H-E-B could bring even more development and leasing activity, said Cody Gibbs, CoStar’s director of market analytics. Ever since H-E-B began opening North Texas stores in 2021, Gibbs said, there’s been an additional 430,000 square feet of new retail space being developed surrounding these locations.
“This has attracted a wide range of build-to-suit users from quick-service restaurants, banks and credit unions, and other users that benefit from the greater foot traffic,” Gibbs said. “We also see the occasional speculative development, bringing some much-needed space to these often rapidly growing corners of the market.”
Even with the new supply of retail, Gibbs said that retail vacancies within a quarter-mile range of H-E-B locations are “near rock bottom,” at 1.5%, a number that continues to shrink.