Houston Food Bank Plans $145 Million Second Campus in Northwest Houston

The Houston Food Bank distributed 40 million more pounds of food last year than its Portwall Street headquarters was designed to handle. That operational strain, spelled out in precise numbers by Chief Development Officer Julie Voss, drove the organization's announcement Wednesday of a $145 million second campus at 2121 West Mount Houston Road in northwest Houston.

"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, framing the gap between current demand and existing infrastructure.

The proposed campus would span roughly 305,000 square feet on 53 acres that Chevron is donating to the organization. About 120,000 square feet would serve as warehouse space, with the remainder housing a food hall, commercial kitchen, offices and consolidated partner space. The $145 million estimate covers the building, site work and architecture.

Houston Food Bank filed plans for the project on April 1 and expects to break ground later in 2026, with construction running through 2027 and phased operations following. Full combined operations at both the Portwall Street facility and the northwest campus are projected around 2033 to 2034. Once both sites are running, Voss told ABC13, the system could distribute roughly 300 million pounds of food annually across HFB's 18-county service area in southeast Texas.

The organization said it is currently in a "silent phase" of a capital campaign to fund the project, pursuing a mix of financing and philanthropic support. The Chevron land donation represents the most tangible commitment announced so far.

Beyond raw tonnage, the northwest campus is designed to reduce the logistical friction that forces HFB to rely on multiple leased and aging spaces. Consolidating cold and dry storage, along with partner services including nutrition education and wraparound social programs, under one roof in a fast-growing part of Harris County positions the Food Bank to respond faster to emergency demand, including the storm-season supply surges that have tested the region repeatedly in recent years.