H-E-B snags 21 acres in Celina, hinting at development boom

Grocery chain will be part of Centurion American’s master-planned community

H-E-B Buys 21 Acres in North Texas Town Celina
H-E-B's Charles Butt with H-E-B store in Allen, one of several in North Texas (Getty, H-E-B)

The arrival of H-E-B typically comes with a massive wave of development. Thus, explosive growth could be on the horizon for the north Dallas suburb of Celina.

The San Antonio-based grocery chain has purchased 21 acres, at the northeast corner of Dallas North Tollway and Fred Smith Parkway, from Squeaky Realty Partnership’s Suresh Manyam, the Dallas Morning News reported. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The Celina site is located within Centurion American Development Group’s planned Legacy Hills development. The 3,200-acre community is slated for an 18-hole golf course, more than 7,000 single-family homes, 4,100 multifamily units and 100 acres of commercial development.

The acquisition aligns with H-E-B’s strategy of snapping up land in areas poised for rapid growth, typically well before other developers catch on.

“Celina now leads the Collin County market with new home construction and building permits, surpassing both Frisco and McKinney,” Rex Glenndenning of Rex Real Estate told the outlet. “In real estate we always say, ‘Retail follows rooftops,’ and that is certainly proving to be the case here.”

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H-E-B has been working to expand its presence in Dallas-Fort Worth. In January, the grocer started construction on  a 131,000-square-foot store in Melissa. Plus, it recently announced plans to open a 135,000-square-foot store in Rockwall, which is expected to be completed in September 2025.

Since 2022, H-E-B has opened five locations in DFW: in Frisco, Plano, Allen and McKinney and, most recently, the Alliance community in Fort Worth. Along with Melissa and Rockwall, it’s planning stores in Mansfield, Dallas, Prosper and a second one in Frisco, the outlet reported.

Meanwhile, other notable developments in Celina’s pipeline include a master-planned community by Cypress Equity Investments and a 77-acre mixed-use development by Seitz Group

—Quinn Donoghue

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