Groundwork at the site of the 55,000-square-foot Whole Foods Market near the entrance to The Domain is slated to begin at the end of August with an anticipated opening in March 2013.

Continued development at The Domain

To visitors and residents, The Domain seems to be forever under construction. Up next is Parkside, a new four-story apartment complex. The Parkside complex will feature 315 one- and two-bedroom units on the south end of Esperanza Crossing. The second phase of construction, scheduled for a December ground breaking, will have 220 apartments. Leases will likely be available in fall 2012.

The Parkside name comes from another new project: a 9-acre park that will be located south of the apartment complex. Crews are scheduled to begin construction on the park in January and the first phase should be complete in April.

Amenities will include grassy areas, bocce ball and trails. The second phase of the park will feature a pavilion.

The Domain is already home to about 1,000 residents in 850 apartment or condo units, said Ben Bufkin, development associate with Endeavor Real Estate Group.

When The Domain is fully built out, it will cover roughly 10 million square feet, Bufkin said, but as of now, it is only 15 percent to 20 percent complete.

Ben Bufkin, a development associate with Endeavor Real Estate Group who is overseeing the development of The Domain, said the grocery store would be a two-story building with the second floor dedicated as a mezzanine for customers to sit and eat. Bufkin said the store would have a similar design as the Sixth Street location. Whole Foods plans to relocate its store from The Gateway shopping center, 9607 Research Blvd. Bufkin said that he thinks The Domain is the perfect fit for a new location.

“It’s a place where you’re going to have a huge, dense population of residents and employees and a lot of daytime and nighttime traffic. It’s a place that has a 24/7 vibe, similar to downtown,” Bufkin said.

A Whole Foods representative said she could not comment yet on the design or features inside the store. Bufkin said the exterior of the store would be composed largely of glass and glazing, similar to the Sixth Street location, as well as rough-cut limestone, wood and metal. Surface parking and an underground garage will provide parking for 320 vehicles.Preliminary site work is expected to last three to four months, during which time workers would be drilling into the ground to install the piers for the building, Bufkin said. Work on the frame of the building should begin by the end of the year.

Adding Whole Foods to the list of Domain businesses not only complements the development’s vision, Bufkin said, but also provides a closer grocery store to area residents.

Surrounding food stores include two H-E-Bs, one at Parmer Lane and MoPac and one at US 183 and Braker Lane, and a Natural Grocers at the Arbor Walk shopping center, 10515 N. MoPac.