H-E-B's Lake Austin store to feature underground parking, BBQ joint

H-E-B's plans for its upcoming store on Lake Austin Boulevard include a multi-level design, underground parking and a barbecue restaurant, according to the company.

The new H-E-B will replace a Randalls store that had operated on the property since 1977. The 2.6-acre site is owned by the University of Texas as part of its Brackenridge Tract in West Austin.

The 110,000-square-foot store at Lake Austin and Exposition boulevards will have a two-story porch and overlook Lady Bird Lake.

The store will include a coffee shop, a pharmacy with drive-thru service and a True Texas BBQ, which is H-E-B's in-house barbecue restaurant brand. True Texas BBQ will have a full bar and indoor and outdoor seating, the company said.

San Antonio-based H-E-B said in a blog post that underground parking will create a "pedestrian-friendly perimeter with wide, tree-lined sidewalks to encourage walking and biking to the store as well as street-level landscape that softens the store's impact on the neighborhood."

In addition, the Lake Austin location will feature an expanded beer and wine department, a meat market and seafood counter, and the grocery chain's largest Dinner Tonight ready-to-cook meal selection. There will also be space for cooking demonstrations.

The store will have a second-level sales floor and customers will have access to three elevators, an open stairway and multiple escalators and cart escalators.

The design by San Antonio-based Lake Flato Architects, which also designed H-E-B's Mueller Market, will include vine-covered walls, natural lighting, pitched roofs and materials and textiles such as limestone, wood, brick and metals. 

H-E-B said construction is set to begin in October and the store is expected to open in 2021.

In addition to the Lake Austin rebuild, a new H-E-B store under construction at Interstate 35 and Slaughter Lane is scheduled to open in early 2020 with a barbecue restaurant.

H-E-B has also announced plans to demolish its existing store at Oltorf Street and South Congress Avenue and build a new multi-story building with underground parking on the site.

Plans for the South Congress store include a beer garden, a food hall and a stage for live music, which will replace the surface parking lot.

H-E-B did not say when construction on the South Congress store will begin. Once work starts the store is expected to take two years to build, the company said.