Whole Foods opens in Southwest Austin

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Whole Foods opened a new store in Southwest Austin Tuesday morning.

• Photos: Inside the new Whole Foods

It’s located in the Shops at Arbor Trails near MoPac at 4301 W. William Cannon Drive.

The 40,000-square-foot store is half the size of the flagship store in Downtown Austin and is described as more of a simple grocery store. It will employ 200 people.

Just last month, Whole Foods opened another store in Bee Cave and plans to open a location near The Domain next year. That one will replace the current store at the Gateway Shopping Center.

There was a bread-breaking prior to the store opening at 8 a.m.

For the first five days, 1 percent of the sales will be donated to nonprofits such as the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Southwest Austin YMCA, Austin Zoo and Animal Sanctuary, Sustainable Food Center and Austin Pets Alive.

Exploding growth in Bee Cave

A new Whole Foods store is just the latest addition to the city of Bee Cave, but future development may need to be put on hold as the city now rushes to build a new wastewater plant to keep up with all the growth.

Its a growing city, but this bustling town didn't always used to be that way.

Businesses are flocking to the area. This West Austin suburb is one of the fastest growing cities.

So fast the current wastewater plant can't keep up. The city plans to add 1,200 new homes in the next five years, but the current plant can only hold half that amount before it reaches capacity. It's why the City Council approved a new $12 million facility to be built on 12 acres on Bee Caves Parkway.

As the roads get more crowded and the grocery aisles fill up, this sleepy town is now thriving -- leaving others ready to take on the growth.

The new wastewater plant will go live in January 2014.