A 95-acre, mixed-use project that could feature Manor’s first H-E-B grocery store is in the works.

On June 15, the city council in the fast-growing Austin suburb passed financial incentives for the project and approved rezoning for more than 26 acres to accommodate 600 apartments. The property, at the northwest corner of U.S. Highway 290 and FM 973, is owned by the Austin-based Butler Family Partnership.

At the council meeting, Matt Harriss presented an overview of the project. He is chief financial officer of Butler Family Interests, which handles business and personal affairs for the family of former Austin Mayor Roy Butler. Harriss said H-E-B has a portion of the property under contract and Home Depot has expressed interest in another parcel. H-E-B says it doesn’t have any of the Butler land under contract.

Butler, who died in 2009 at age 83, founded Capitol Beverage, a major beer distributor in Central Texas. He also once owned Austin radio station KVET.

Aside from the 600 apartments, the Manor project is supposed to encompass as much as 425,000 square feet of space for shops and restaurants. The project is expected to be built in five phases, with completion dates set for 2023 through 2025.

“This is the type of high-end development that will both enhance our citizens’ quality of life by providing much-needed shopping and services, as well as providing increased revenues to the city budget for years to come, so it represents a win-win proposition for the City of Manor,” City Manager Scott Moore says in a news release.

Scott Jones, the city’s economic development director, notes that the retail trade area in and around Manor is home to over 76,000 people boasting an average household income of more than $93,000.

“The demographics tell the truth. Manor is the place to do business,” Jones says.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Manor’s population jumped 32.7 percent from April 2020 to July 2021. As of last July, the city had a population of nearly 18,300.

Manor is positioned for even more growth, as it’s nearly 15 miles northeast of the new Tesla factory in eastern Travis County and about 20 miles southwest of Taylor, where Samsung is building a $17 billion semiconductor factory.