Six months after opening two other Cy-Fair locations, H-E-B has purchased a 15-acre parcel of land in the future mixed-use Cypress Creek Town Center. Located at the corner of Tuckerton and Fry roads, the 90-acre development will feature commercial and retail options when construction begins on the project in the coming years.

Although there is not yet a timetable for the future H-E-B, the purchase was prompted by the area's continued population growth and density, said Cyndy Garza, public affairs director for H-E-B.

"As that community continues to grow, there are certainly opportunities for H-E-B and our growth," she said.

Work on the town center will not begin until H-E-B moves forward with the future store, but about a mile north down Fry Road from the future town center site, Mischer Development and Hunington Properties have begun construction on the Shops at Cypress Creek Lakes, a 30,000-square-foot retail center.

The site is expected to be complete by this fall and will include a mix of commercial tenants, including a dentist, sandwich shop, donut store, dry cleaner, nail spa, a veterinarian, martial arts studio, smoothie shop and a dance center. Work is expected to be completed on the shopping center by this fall.

Residential growth in Cypress was a major contributing factor in Mischer Development's decision to begin commercial projects in the community, said David Nussbaum, senior vice president of development for Mischer.

"There's tremendous household growth out there between Cypress Creek Lakes, Towne Lake, Bridgeland and Fairfield," he said. "The natural cycle of things is to get household growth and retail services will follow."

The construction of several new Cy-Fair ISD schools inside Towne Lake and Bridgeland has also contributed to growth in the Cypress area, said Randy Corson, vice president of residential development for Mischer.

"You're adding 700 homes within the confines of a two or three mile square radius with the epicenter being from Cypress North Houston Road to Tuckerton and the east side of Barker Cypress to Fry Road in the west," he said. "That's a lot of families moving in, and you need all those retail applications to service the residents."

As development continues to pick up along Fry Road in Cypress, it will only be at certain major intersections, since there is limited commercial property along the frontage road.

"We think it will make that area more attractive, traffic will flow better, and it helps the retail market to know there won't be too much competition," Nussbaum said.