U.S. Foodservice new building will face south, looking at the eastern extension of Main Street east of Buda. (COURTESY RENDERING)
Austin Division President John Fowler points out the building plans to residents at the U.S. Foodservice ground breaking. (Photo by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
by JEN BIUNDO
Nearly two years after U.S. Foodservice announced plans to relocate its regional distribution center to Buda – with a citizen protest, referendum petition, and state Supreme Court lawsuit appeal in between – the company broke ground last week on their new $50 million facility.
“We’re proud that you stayed here,” Hays County Pct. 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton told company officials at the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning. “That took real perseverance. That took real dedication to this site.”
On Sept. 2, the company closed on the $4 million purchase from Sunfield Municipal Utility District, said U.S Foodservice Austin Division President John Fowler. The 40-acre property sits inside the Sunfield development east of Buda, near the newly-built intersection of SH-45 and IH-35.
To access the construction site, city, county and state dignitaries attending the groundbreaking ceremony drove past former cow pastures down the unpaved County Road 118, its dirt surface riddled with puddles full of last week’s rain.
Hays County will upgrade the two roads adjoining the site, CR 118 and Turnersville Road, with a $750,000 Texas Capital Fund Grant and $2.7 million in county funds that may be recouped through U.S. Foodservice property tax over the next two decades.
“If ever there was a model of business and government joining together and creating infrastructure, this is it,” Fowler said.
While commercial development has been slow to sign on to the 2,800-acre mixed use Sunfield development, Buda Mayor Bobby Lane said the infrastructure could open up the area to new business development.
“This site can serve as a catalyst for projects yet to come,” Lane said.
The new facility, designed and constructed by ESI Design Services of Wisconsin, will qualify for Green Building Council LEED Certification, company officials said.
The 290,000-square-foot office and warehouse facility is slated to be completed in October 2011, initially employing a staff of about 250. A possible future expansion could add between 100,000 – 200,000 additional square feet and 150 new employees.
Earlier this month, one of Buda’s largest industrial employers, Chatleff Controls, announced it would shutter its Buda manufacturing plant and outsource 120 jobs to Mexico.
“During our budget hearings, we heard folks coming forward talking about what tough economic times we’re in and the need for jobs,” Barton said. “One of the things we could look to them and say was, ‘They’re coming.’”
Lane described the company’s efforts to move to Buda as “pretty rocky at points.”
“I want to thank John Fowler and U.S. Foods for sticking with us on this long journey,” Lane said.
Shortly after U.S. Foodservice announced plans to relocate from east Austin to Buda, they drew the ire of some local citizens and developers who opposed the light industrial facility.
Members of the group BudaFirst sued the city of Buda last year, arguing that councilmembers violated the citizens’ rights when they refused to honor a petition calling for a referendum election that challenged the land use change allowing U.S. Foodservice to build its facility in the Sunfield Development east of Buda.
Though the site is located just east of the city limits and Buda has no zoning authority over the land, a development agreement gives the city some clout in land use planning. The site had originally been slated for office use, but the development agreement amendment opened up about 90 acres for light industrial use, drawing public outcry from local residents who said the facility would increase heavy truck traffic in the area and mar the gateway to Buda. Meanwhile, neighboring property owners said the development would hurt their chances of building upscale projects on their own land.
After lower courts threw out the lawsuit, the state Supreme Court denied the suit without hearing the case, giving U.S. Foodservice a green light to move forward.
Company officials say the majority of their truck traffic will occur at off-peak hours and will not tie up IH-35 access roads.
U.S. Foodservice is one of the nation’s largest food distribution companies, with 25,000 employees and $19 billion in annual revenue. The Central Texas division supplies 2,800 customers in Austin, San Antonio and Corpus Christi.
