Tom Behrens
Mike Barnes, EDC Coordinator for Brookshire, confirmed 1.03 million sq. ft. has been leased by Tesla and 300,000 sq. ft. by HEB in the second phase of Empire West Business Park. Empire is located just east of Brookshire, between I-10 and Highway 90.
Tesla signed a lease late last year according to real estate brokerages Cushman & Wakefield and Savills. Opening a large industrial facility in Brookshire would raise the small city’s profile among industrial developers and auto manufacturers.
Barnes confirmed that Tesla officials have been in communication with the City of Brookshire permitting office for a portion of the building.
Barnes was quoted as saying that a company of international renown like Tesla choosing Brookshire, Texas, really helps diversity and enhances greater Houston’s standing in the global marketplace.
Since moving its headquarters to Austin in December 2021, Tesla has opened a large battery storage project in Angleton, north of Lake Jackson, applied for tax incentives for a proposed plant in Nueces County where it would produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide used in electric vehicle batteries. Tesla opened Boring Co., a tunneling and infrastructure firm, in Pflugerville, opened offices for Neuralink in Del Valle, and SpaceX has had a spaceport in Boca Chica for almost a decade.
It’s not clear what Tesla would do with a facility in Brookshire. In addition to manufacturing trucks and cars, Tesla also sells a host of battery and solar panel products for residential and commercial customer. The Brookshire-area facility could be used for manufacturing, a warehouse, or logistics facility.
Leasing documents describe the building as a warehouse with more than 300 trailer parking spaces, a large truck court and docking capabilities intended to enhance efficiency in loading and unloading products.
Tesla is advertising a handful of job listings in the Brookshire area for warehouse and logistics positions. One position for an associate manager in production control advertised on social media platform LinkedIn, describes needing someone to oversee cell materials production with experience in handling, logistics and supply-chain management in a manufacturing environment.
As of early January, Brookshire officials said they were unaware of any tax incentives in the works for Tesla’s proposed plant in the city. Gov. Greg Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Tesla was awarded about $64 million worth of tax incentives from Travis County and the Del Valle school district before it moved to Austin.
H-E-B continues to expand the grocers market presence in Houston and surrounding area. The H-E-B at the intersection of Bridgeland Creek Parkway and Summit Point Crossing is the grocer’s first location in the Bridgeland master-planned community.
“Our Houston Region remains a priority for H-E-B, and we continue to make significant investments expanding our footprint to serve all of our neighbors,” said Armando Perez, H-E-B Houston’s executive vice president. “We are excited to bring a store to the Bridgeland community to meet the needs of this growing area.”
Other new H-E-B stores recently opened include Willis and Magnolia. The Willis H-E-B, about 45 miles north of Houston, anchors the new Market at Willis Shopping Center. Houston-based developer Fidelis broke ground on the new shopping center in September 2021.
The all-new 107,000 square foot El Dorado H-E-B, located at 18611 Eastfield Dr. in Webster, TX, replaces the former Clear Lake Market H-E-B (El Camino Real) and offers a nod to neighboring NASA with a metal shingle design that mimics the underside of the space shuttle.
H-E-B currently runs four warehouses, five manufacturing facilities, two transportation terminals and more than 104 stores in the Houston area. The grocer currently has more than 420 stores in Texas and Mexico.
The warehouse facility in Empire West will help to service these stores, and future stores as H-E-B expands its presence.