H-E-B has acquired the 10-acre property at the southeast corner of Hillcrest Road and 635 for a very large H-E-B store.  It would replace a row of older office buildings fronting on LBJ.  See the map below.  The newer office buildings adjacent to the Williamsburg Condominiums will remain.

The store will be about 125,000 square feet.  For comparison, the Tom Thumb at Preston Forest is about 50,000 square feet.  The building will be on the west end of the property and the entrance will face east with a 2-level parking garage and 700 spaces on the east end of the property.  The parking garage is necessary due to the site's limited size.  Customer access will be from Hillcrest Plaza Drive at the traffic light and from the LBJ frontage road.  

H-E-B held a neighborhood meeting on February 17, attended by over 120 residents.  Many attendees were concerned about a massive increase in traffic on Hillcrest, and at the two traffic lights.  H-E-B discussed adding dedicated turn lanes on Hillcrest and adjusting the traffic lights, but there will be no way to totally mitigate the traffic.  A Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) is being conducted by H-E-B.

Besides traffic, other issues raised at the meeting, and also by Hillcrest Forest: 
 

• This would be a 125,000 square foot "big box", out of scale with its surroundings.  

• This is not neighborhood-serving retail.  It would be "regional retail" that will attract shoppers from all of North Dallas and nearby suburbs.

• There has never been retail on Hillcrest Road between Northwest Highway and Arapaho Road.  This introduces an entirely new use in a residential/office area.

• The back of the building and loading docks with 18-wheelers and other trucks will be on Hillcrest Road, at an entrance to our community.  

On the other hand, H-E-B has many devoted fans, and there were a number of residents at the meeting who said that they look forward to shopping there.

H-E-B plans to apply for a re-zoning in the near future, and they said that they will hold additional neighborhood meetings after their plans are further developed.