“The hype from the H-E-B opening up was loud and clear,” resident Corie Wallen-Douglas said.
Just across the street, Baylor Scott & White Medical Center - Pflugerville is working to expand its facility, while the city of Pflugerville makes headway on road projects to support east side growth.
Residents have noticed the effects of the development, from new businesses and housing to increased traffic, which Wallen-Douglas attributes to the city’s increasing population.
Two minute impact
The uptick in business and residential activity is especially concentrated east of SH 130, a toll and service road that parallels I-35.
Construction on SH 130 began in 2003 and fully opened in 2012. The road acts as an access point to east Pflugerville, which Assistant City Manager Emily Barron said helps drive development.
“As you continue to move east, it’s really accessibility that has really opened up that area, which has taken some time,” Barron said.
The H-E-B opening and ongoing BSW expansion aren’t the only new developments in east Pflugerville. Pepsi Beverages North America’s distribution facility moved to the area from Austin in July, bringing around 30 new employees.
Although residential development boomed earlier than commercial—with the typical home in the area built in 2014 according to Homes.com—existing subdivisions like Carmel are expanding with 1,000 homes planned for the new section, Carmel East.
Wallen-Douglas said he has concerns about how the city plans to support the new activity.
“I think it’s a challenge for the city to get ahead of the growth,” he said. “Planning for that and having the infrastructure for it, as we do grow—how do we do that sustainably?”
What’s being done
In preparation for the H-E-B opening, the city installed a new traffic light on the southeast corner of SH 130 and East Pflugerville Parkway. Other road projects, such as the Colorado Sand gap project, are a part of the city’s capital improvement program, a five-year plan to identify infrastructure needs.
Colorado Sand, which is currently under construction, will provide a “key connection” in the area, according to Barron. Construction on both Kelly Lane and East Pflugerville Parkway will also help support the new development.
While Wallen-Douglas said he heard concerns from residents about traffic around the new H-E-B, resident Jenna Kotwica said she sees the grocery store’s addition as more positive than negative.
“It’s hard to get out and about in Pflugerville during rush hour traffic, but I think that’s a general problem that we have, regardless,” Kotwica said.
Zooming in
While the east side of Pflugerville appears to have seen a lot of industrial development, it is actually a trend across the city. A report from the Pflugerville Planning and Development Services department for fiscal year 2023-24 shows that commercial activity continues to rise.
Commercial building permits and site applications have both risen steadily since 2016. The consistent increase in business and infrastructure activity more recently outpaces residential development, which saw a slight decline in building permits last year. However, subdivision applications have picked up, and Barron said the east side has more room for them.
“As we start to see more people interested in Central Texas, and specifically Pflugerville, that’s the land we have where you can do those larger subdivisions,” Barron said.
H-E-B on East Pflugerville Parkway is home to the city’s first True Texas BBQ restaurant. The store’s full-service departments include curbside pickup and home delivery, fuel station and car wash, meat market and seafood center, bakery and tortilleria, wine and beer department, and floral department.
BSW, which opened in Pflugerville in 2019 and is the city’s only hospital, has already experienced increased demand in the last few years. The hospital reported a more than 50% increase in the number of patients seeking emergency care, driving the expansion, according to Jay Fox, president and CEO of Baylor Scott & White Greater Austin Region.
The expansion includes a three-story medical office building that will triple clinic capacity with additional beds for medical and surgery, expanded emergency room and trauma services, on-site urgent care, and advanced medical technology.
“We know there’s a need to serve the fast-growing community,” Fox said.
Features of the new H-E-B include:
- 127,000 square feet
- $48 million investment
- 500 new employees
- True Texas BBQ
- Drive-thru pharmacy
- Car wash and fuel station
Over the last decade, Pflugerville’s population increased from 55,100 to 79,600, according to the city’s latest demographic report. As the city continues to grow, residents can look forward to BSW’s completed expansion, as well as the Colorado Sand connection by the end of 2025.
Work on Kelly Lane will continue into 2027, and Carmel East has an expected construction date of 2026.
Quote of note
“I think that the density of population that we’re getting now helps to support more commercial activity,” said Pflugerville Assistant City Manager Emily Barron.
