Houston Food Bank plans to build new facility with $145 million price tag in northwest Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Food Bank said it plans to build a new facility in northwest Houston at a cost of about $145 million.

The new one will be in addition to the existing food bank on Portwall Street.

The new space will be at 2121 West Mount Houston Road and will be a 305,000-square-foot facility with 120,000 square feet of warehouse space on the 53-acre property, according to the Houston Food Bank's Chief Development Officer, Julie Voss.

Voss stated Chevron is providing the 53-acre site.

The new space is needed because the existing spaces are already at capacity, according to Voss.

"Last year, we distributed 168,000,000 pounds of nutritious food, and this facility was built to accommodate about 120,000,000 pounds of food to distribute," Voss said.

The Houston Food Bank is currently securing financing for the project, according to officials.

"The facility itself and everything, like the building and the architects, we are estimating the total will be about $145 million dollars, and we are raising that through a capital campaign," Voss said. "So, we are in a silent phase of the campaign now and have had great support from the community."

The Houston Food Bank anticipates breaking ground on the new facility this year, with the project being finished in 2027 and fully operational at a later date.

"Our goal when we have both facilities open, which will probably be 2033 or 2034, is that we plan to be able to distribute about 300,000,000 pounds of food," Voss said.