HIC Acquires Busiest Shopping Center in Corpus Christi

Harkinson Investment Corporation is pleased to announce the acquisition of Huntington Square, Corpus Christi’s premier grocer-anchored shopping destination. The center is shadow anchored by an H-E-B Plus that ranks as the third-most-visited grocery store in the United States, with 3.6 million visits per year, according to the data analytics firm Placer.ai. Including visits to the H-E-B, Huntington Square ranks as the most visited shopping destination in Corpus Christi.

Harkinson closed on the acquisition of Huntington Square on Friday, November 21^st, purchasing the property from Dallas-based LRIC Properties. Huntington Square is located at the southwest corner of Staples Street and Saratoga Boulevard. The purchase consists of 90,768 square feet of retail space accommodating 19 tenants, including Dollar Tree, Ferguson Home, Freedom Fitness, and Physicians Premier ER. It also includes 4.7 acres of undeveloped land directly adjacent to the H-E-B, which Harkinson intends to develop for new restaurant and retail users.

The 174,134-square foot H-E-B Plus store was not a part of the sale and will continue to be owned and operated by H-E-B. The store ranks #3 out of 69,470 grocery store locations nationwide for footfalls, according to Placer.ai, which tracks store visits based upon cell phone geolocation data. H-E-B will soon begin a $32 million expansion and remodel of the store, to be completed in April of 2027, according to public records.

Harkinson was attracted to Huntington Square based upon the strength of the H-E-B as a shadow anchor, the property’s diverse and stable mix of tenants, and its location in South Corpus Christi near to the fast-growing London Independent School District, where enrollment is projected to double within a decade.

“Huntington Square really checks all of the boxes in terms of what we look for in a retail property,” says Executive Vice President Josh Harkinson, who leads acquisitions for the company. “The existing tenants are doing great due to the incredible draw from the H-E-B and the prospects for developing the rest of the site will only increase as the south side adds new residents.”

Harkinson is already in discussions to do a build-to-suit at Huntington Square for a fast casual restaurant chain and expects to announce details within a few months.

Based in Dallas, Harkinson Investment Corporation is a family-owned and operated property investment firm with a Texas-based portfolio of retail, industrial flex, and office properties totaling 1.4 million square feet. It was founded in 1991 by Jeff Harkinson, who still serves as President of the company, and includes a second generation of family executives handling property management, leasing, and development through its affiliates Harkinson Development and Harkinson Dewan Commercial.

"We're pleased to enter the Corpus Christi market with this unique retail acquisition,” Jeff Harkinson says. “Our family partnership plans to enhance the long-term viability and customer appeal of the property with nearly a million dollars of capital improvements in addition to bringing exciting new retailers to the site as we develop the balance of the property."

The sale was brokered for the seller by Disney Investment Group. Loans for the acquisition came from Southside Bank and Simmons Bank. Harkinson will handle the leasing for Huntington Square but plans to retain Corpus-Christi-based Lynann Pinkham of Cravey Real Estate Services as the on-the-ground manager.

“There are a couple of small vacancies at Huntington Square but we don’t think they will stay empty for long” Josh Harkinson says.  “With H-E-B’s expansion and the continued growth in surrounding neighborhoods, tenant demand is already exceeding expectations.”